How Claudia stays Strictly confidential

CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN may be the BBC’s highest paid female star at up to £499,000 per year. Yet the 45-year-old confesses that bosses at Strictly Come Dancing deliberately keep her in the dark concerning the contestants and the winners — because she is such a blabbermouth. ‘I never know anything in advance because when they tell me a secret, or the contestants’ names before the press, I always tell everybody,’ says the mother-of-three, who co-hosts the show with Tess Daly. ‘They won’t tell me the winner until Tess has said the name! So don’t tell me anything, ever.’