Ore Oduba has started a mega-money bidding war between channels.
The 30-year-old sports presenter won over the hearts of the nation last weekend when he lifted the famous glitterball trophy on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and now bosses from the BBC – who have worked with the hunk since 2008 – would like to make him a permanent presenter on the topical evening programme ‘The One Show’.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "It’s clear Ore’s a rising star and he’s now a household name because of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. He was given his ‘One Show’ presenting debut during ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ in a really tricky episode where he had to interview Sir Cliff Richard, but passed the test with flying colours."
But TV executives at the BBC will need to work fast if they want to secure the handsome journalist as ITV have reportedly slapped down a £500,000 deal as they liked the way he presented ‘This Morning’ while Phillip Schofield was away last month.
The insider explained: "There’s a sense of urgency to get him presenting some other programmes and have him based in London now after his spot on ‘This Morning’."
And if Ore does decide to jump across to ITV next year, he won’t be the first to walk away from the BBC as Susanna Reid moved to ‘Good Morning Britain’ from ‘BBC Breakfast’ after she finished second on the ballroom and latin show in 2013.
Meanwhile, Ore is determined to focus on his beautiful wife Portia – who he married last year – for the time being as he feels terrible that she had to travel to London from their home in Manchester every weekend to support him in the competition.
He said recently: "With her living up North, we’ve had to spend a lot of time apart. It’s been stressful and strenuous for her. I’d imagine it’s not easy to be a ‘Strictly…’ partner. She had her own work, family and friends in Manchester but then you’ve got the 24/7 support role that is being my wife. She had it full-on but she loved it."