Claudia Winkleman asks Strictly viewers to 'bear with me' on return

Claudia Winkleman has urged the Strictly audience to 'bear with me' as she makes her return to the show. Credit: Philip Toscano/PA Wire

Strictly Come Dancing co-host Claudia Winkleman asked the audience to "bear with me" as she prepares to make a return to the show this weekend.

Winkleman has been absent from the hit BBC show in recent weeks to be with her eight-year-old daughter, Matilda, who was in hospital after her Halloween costume went up in flames while she was trick-or-treating.

The presenter wrote on Twitter:

The mother-of-three was replaced by Zoe Ball on Strictly after the accident.

Claudia Winkleman and her Strictly Come Dancing co-host Tess Daly. Credit: Ian West/PA Wire

Winkleman landed the co-host role, joining Tess Daly, in the autumn after Sir Bruce Forsyth decided to step down after a decade on the programme.

Daly used Twitter to welcome her "darling girl" back after the news of her return was made public: