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Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly have been tipped to stage a surprise comeback to Strictly Come Dancing just months after stepping down from the beloved dance competition.

The duo announced their departures from the BBC show last year, with the Christmas special marking their final appearance as hosts.

The BBC is yet to confirm their replacements, with the likes of Zoe Ball and Emma Willis widely rumoured to be in the running to take over presenting duties.

With Strictly undergoing significant changes to its professional dancer line-up in the wake of recent scandals, speculation is also mounting over which celebrities will be joining the cast this year.

It has now been claimed that Claudia and Tess could make their way back to the ballroom - though this time, they would be competing for the coveted glitterball trophy, reports the Mirror.

Following their emotional farewell and pledge to "Keeeep dancing!", bookmakers William Hill have installed both women at odds of 16/1 to return to Strictly as contestants.

According to the Metro, a William Hill spokesperson said: "Claudia and Tess have been loyal servants to Strictly Come Dancing over the last twenty years, so it wouldn't surprise anyone if they made a comeback to the ballroom in some capacity.

"The pair are 16/1 with us for either to compete in this year's series, so we're certainly not ruling anything else for the ex-hosts.

"As for who steps into the hosting role this year, Emma Willis, Bradley Walsh, and Rylan Clark are the latest frontrunners, but expect some further twists ahead of this autumn's latest edition."

This comes after reports that nine stars are in the running to replace Claudia and Tess, with chemistry tests in the diary this week to confirm who the next presenters will be.

Tess and Claudia announced they were quitting Strictly last year, saying their time on the show had been "an absolute dream" but it "feels like the right time" to leave.

They wrote: "We have loved working as a duo and hosting Strictly has been an absolute dream. We were always going to leave together and now feels like the right time.

"We will have the greatest rest of this amazing series and we just want to say an enormous thank you to the BBC and to every single person who works on the show. They're the most brilliant team and we'll miss them every day.

"We will cry when we say the last "keep dancing" but we will continue to say it to each other. Just possibly in tracksuit bottoms at home while holding some pizza."

Tess - who recently gained a Guinness World Record for the longest-serving host of the same dance competition TV show - began presenting Strictly from its inception in 2004, first with Sir Bruce Forsyth, and then with Claudia when she joined as a co-host in 2014.

Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC One and iPlayer later this year.