Tess Daly has said that it "feels like a privilege" to still be hosting Strictly Come Dancing 20 years down the line.
The celebrity ballroom competition has been a mainstay of the BBC schedules for the last two decades, having first aired in May 2004, and continues to be a huge ratings success every year.
Daly, meanwhile, has also been a mainstay - hosting every episode of the show since its inception, initially alongside the late Sir Bruce Forsyth and since 2010 with Claudia Winkleman.
"I have to pinch myself when I realise it's been 20 years since starting work on this brilliant TV show I was lucky enough to be chosen to be a part of," she said. "None of us knew at the time if it would work, and none of us could've foreseen its stratospheric success.
"It genuinely feels like a privilege to be part of such a talented team who work tirelessly to produce a live show of this scale each week."
She continued: "It's such an honour to have been there since the very first show aired back in 2004 and now here we are about to celebrate our 20th birthday.
"My overriding memories of that first show are of being very nervous and very pregnant! But even then, there was a buzz in the air, like no other I'd ever experienced on a live television show. It felt so exciting, and it still does."
Strictly Come Dancing's launch show airs tonight at 7.20pm on BBC One.
Neil Wilkes
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