Tess Daly's 'tears' after BBC colleague branded her 'pneumatic bird-brain'
Tess Daly has been a BBC favourite ever since she first joined Strictly Come Dancing back in 2004 with her then co-host Bruce Forsyth. But, just like any leading lady in the industry, the 55 year old has unfortunately found herself in the middle of a few controversies over the years.
In a resurfaced interview from 2013, when mum-of-two Tess was speaking ahead of Strictly's 11th series, the TV presenter also addressed the criticism she received for the part she played in the Queen's Diamond Jubilee coverage. At the time, her fellow BBC presenter Michael Buerk issued a particularly scathing statement where he branded Tess a "pneumatic bird-brain." In a furious broadside, he ranted that the "Dunkirk Little Ships, the most evocative reminders of this country’s bravest hour" had been overlooked in favour of "a pneumatic bird-brain from Strictly Come Dancing" conducting interviews in London's Battersea Park.
The famed newsreader, who went on to star in I'm A Celebrity alongside Gemma Collins and Tinchy Stryder in 2014, continued: "I was so ashamed of the BBC I would have wept if I hadn’t been so angry. A succession of airheads preened themselves or gossiped with even more vacuous D-list celebrities. With barely an exception they were cringingly inept.”
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Although Tess received the support of her friends, the star - who has been married to fellow TV host Vernon Kay since 2003 - refused to respond. Until she clapped back during a Radio Times interview. Tess said: “If you’re in the public eye, criticism comes with the territory. I’m confident of my ability to drive a show in on time and do my job well. I like to think I can rise above that.”
These days, Tess - who has been in the public eye since the age of 17 - is still best known as one half of the presenting duo on Strictly Come Dancing, now with Claudia Winkleman. But recently the showbiz star surprised fans when she revealed her real name - and announced it wasn't 'Tess'.
Going back a few years, Tess began her career as a model after she was discovered outside a McDonald's restaurant in Manchester while waiting for her sister. However, at that time, Tess wasn't yet officially known as Tess Daly. As it turns out, Tess is her stage name – a revelation which has floored Strictly fans. Born in 1969, she was named Helen Elizabeth Daly by her parents, Vivian and Sylvia. Tess later adopted her stage name when she began her modelling career, but didn't legally changed her name out of respect.
Explaining why she changed her moniker, she said it was because there was already someone named 'Helen Davies' at the agency, so she was advised to abandon 'Helen Daly' as it was considered too similar.
Tess was given the name 'Tess' because her agent at the time was "obsessed" with the actress Nastassja Kinski, who starred in a 1979 film called Tess. Tess explained: "So Tess it was. I was gullible and impressionable. Mind you, two weeks later, I was in Japan, then I travelled the world – Paris, Milan, New York."
