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Earlier this week, Strictly Come Dancing host Tess Daly dropped a bombshell announcement that the current series of the show will be her final one. The 56-year-old has been hosting the competition since it launched in 2004, initially sharing presenting duties with the late Bruce Forsyth, before teaming up with Claudia Winkleman . In a heartfelt video alongside her co-star on Wednesday, Tess revealed it was time to "pass the baton on" to two fresh presenters, as both she and Claudia bid farewell to the ballroom. With a reported salary of £150,000 for Tess' role on Strictly, baffled fans have been left wondering why she's chosen to walk away from such a lucrative gig. What many might not realise is that the presenter has been juggling a completely different career behind the scenes that "consumes a lot" of her precious time. Launched in 2021, Tess is co-owner of swimwear brand Naia Beach alongside her closest pal Gayle Lawton. Speaking candidly about her four-year-old business venture recently, she confessed: "That's my other baby, the business, and that requires me [to work] hours and hours a day, first thing in the morning and last thing at night. "It doesn't sleep and it's growing. And [what is] really exciting [is] getting to be creative, you know, I love building a business with my best friend. "But, it does consume a lot of my time. So I'm usually doing that, it's wonderful," she revealed during a chat with Giovanna Fletcher on the Happy Mum, Happy Baby podcast. Tess continued: "It's enjoyable, you know, its really fulfilling but that takes up most of my time." Besides being a presenter and business owner, the Strictly favourite is also mum to daughters Phoebe, 21, and Amber, 15. Tess shares her girls with long-term spouse Vernon Kay , who hosts the mid-morning programme on BBC Radio 2 . The presenter's family circumstances have been very much part of her journey on Strictly Come Dancing. Just six weeks following the arrival of their firstborn, Tess plunged back into her career for the programme's second series. "Six weeks to the day since I'd given birth, I went back. That was no mean feat because I was a new mother. I'd had a caesarean," she revealed. "Timing-wise, it worked out really well because you can work six weeks after having a caesarean, which is a pretty major operation. "But it was pretty daunting - in the six weeks since giving birth, becoming a new mum, not knowing what I was doing, not sleeping very much." Following her departure announcement, bookmakers suggest Tess might sign up to Claudia's other show, Celebrity Traitors. Both she and Vernon were rumoured to be joining the line-up last year, though Tess subsequently clarified this was never the case. Speaking to The Metro newspaper recently, she said: "She [Claudia] knows I'd be able to read her mind at this point. I'd be terrible at doing a poker face and being a traitor." Previously confirming this was accurate, Vernon said on Good Morning Britain : "Tess always laughs when she tells a fib, whereas I'm terrible. "It's not convincing. I think it would be an interesting psychological experience, The Traitors."
