Emma Willis shocks with savage dig after Strictly’s Will Best welcomes first baby

Emma Willis delivered an unexpectedly savage jibe at Will Best as he returned to Strictly Come Dancing for the first time since becoming a dad.

Tonight, the Big Brother host, 41, and his professional partner, Dianne Buswell, 37, performed an electric jive as Sir Elton John as the themed Icons Week returned.

They scored one seven and three eights from the panel, placing them in a solid third place on the leaderboard behind Cach Mercer and Jaime Winstone.

But this weekend, we’re going to assume the scores mattered less for Will, who is still in a bubble after his real-life partner, Tobi Rose, gave birth a week ago.

Last Sunday, the engaged couple welcomed Sonny, with Will telling his Instagram followers they were ‘tired new parents’ but feeling incredibly ‘lucky’.

While his Strictly family showered him with love during tonight’s live show, presenter Emma couldn’t resist a cheeky dig.

Introducing Will and Dianne, she and the judges teased some ‘very special’ on-brand gifts for the newborn, with Shirley Ballas pulling out a pair of tiny dance shoes, while Craig Revel Horwood offered up a ‘1’ paddle so ‘the baby can score his dad from home’.

Chiming in, Emma revealed a miniature musical instrument, saying sarcastically: ‘I got Will this teeny, tiny violin, just in case I ever hear him complain about how tired he is after it was his fiancée that gave birth.’

She then mimed playing the violin and gave a smug smirk at the camera while co-host Josh Widdicombe chuckled.

Taking to X, audiences were loving the sly quip from Emma, who has two daughters of her own with husband Matt Willis.

‘Brilliant 🤣🤣🤣🤣’, laughed @ClairClair211, with @xpinkpixiedollx adding, ‘She’s amazing 😂’

During his VT, both Will and Dianne shed tears as they spoke about becoming parents, and he heaped praise on her after she returned to the programme after giving birth last year.

Nicknamed Bowie, she and boyfriend Joe Sugg, whom she met on Strictly in 2018, welcomed son Bowden last March, with Dianne famously competing in the previous series while pregnant.

‘What I will say is you will feel tired,’ Dianne told Will. ‘But it’s like a magical tired. You’re tired from the exhaustion of loving them so much.’

Growing emotional, Will told her: ‘You’re an inspiration. You are doing all of this, and you’ve got a baby, and you are clearly the most amazing mum, so I wanna try and learn from you.’

‘You’re gonna be the most amazing dad,’ the Australian choreographer reassured him. ‘And all I can say is we can do it together, us and everyone else out there with kids.’

‘Big up the mums and the dads and everything in between,’ Will declared.

After earning plenty of compliments from the judges for their routine, Will shouted out his son in a chat with Johannes Radebe.

‘Can I say hello to someone very special watching?’, he smiled, waving to Sonny down the lens. ‘I hope you’re enjoying the show!’

‘He can only see about three inches in front of his face,’ he laughed.

The cast then surprised the new dad with a personalised blue outfit for the little one, with ‘Tiny Dancer’ printed across the chest in an adorable nod to both his Strictly experience and his Elton-inspired number.

‘I’m just so proud of you for getting out there and doing a jive – of all the weeks!’, Dianne said.

‘No sleep, a jive with the most steps we’ve ever put in… you nailed that, and you did it for little Sonny.’

After Will made it through last week’s public vote, he got another surprise when Sonny made his grand entrance the following Sunday morning.

In the clip filmed at hospital, he told his followers, ‘I got this really cool new thing today. Lots of people get them, but they are pretty cool,’ panning down to the baby in his arms.

He also shared photos of the baby with Tobi, who was heard asking: ‘Are you very tired?’

Will’s other half then commented underneath his post: ‘What’s worse Will Best, a new born baby and no sleep, learning the jive on no sleep OR learning the jive at the same time as having a new born baby and NO sleep?’

The couple, who announced their joyous pregnancy news ahead of the first live show, got engaged in July 2024.

Will and stylist Tobi had already been dating for a decade, and he whisked her off to Tuscany for a romantic trip, where he proposed.

A source later said the engaged lovebirds ‘couldn’t be happier’.

Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Comment now

Comments

Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google

Add as preferred source