People are only just finding out Tess Daly’s name is not actually Tess

Tess Daly returns to Strictly Come Dancing this weekend but did you know she's been navigating the entertainment industry under a stage name for three decades?

Born in Stockport to textile factory workers Vivian and Sylvia Daly in 1969, the beloved BBC presenter had her first taste of fame at just 18-years-old.

At the time, Daly was spotted by a model scouter outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Manchester and later flew to Japan to complete work before later appearing in music videos for Duran Duran and The Beloved.

From the early days of her career presenting SMTV Live and Sport Relief to working on Strictly, the star has always operated under the name ‘Tess Daly’.

However, she previously revealed she was asked to ‘ditch’ her birth name due to sharing it with someone else in the industry.

Opening up about the decision, Daly claimed she started going by Tess because her agent at the time was obsessed with actress Nastassja Kinski.

The German star and former model appeared in the 1979 Roman Polanski movie Tess, based on Tess of the d’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy as the titular character.

It’s said Daly’s agent had advised her to take inspiration from the flick and take up the moniker instead.

Tess Daly returns to Strictly Come Dancing this weekend (Instagram/tessdaly)

“I was gullible and impressionable,” the mother-of-two later admitted.

“Mind you, two weeks later I was in Japan then travelled the world. Paris, Milan, New York.”

So, the television presenter - born Helen Elizabeth Daly - changed her name to Tess and the rest, as they say, is history.

Speaking to The Weekend, Daly revealed that her mother is the only person in her life to refer to her as Helen.

“My mum’s really the only person who still calls me Helen, and that’s not often.

“She tends to call me ‘love’, so when she does say ‘Helen’ it can take me a while to respond."

“I’ve never changed it by deed poll or anything because I think it would be disrespectful to my parents,” she confessed to the publication.

Daly returns to Strictly Come Dancing this weekend to co-host the series 22 launch show alongside Claudia Winkleman.

Tess was born Helen Elizabeth Daly (Instagram/tessdaly)

The pair have worked together on the show since 2014 after Winkleman, 52, replaced the late Sir Bruce Forsyth following his leave the year before.

Saturday’s launch show is expected to open with a choreographed dance number featuring the BBC show’s professional dancers, before Amy Dowden performs a dazzling Quickstep routine.

The performance marks the 32-year-old’s return to the ballroom following her breast cancer diagnosis in May 2023.

Strictly’s launch show was recorded at Elstree Studios and is set to feature all 15 celebrity contestants making their dance floor debut.

The likes of Love Island’s Tasha Ghouri, former Coronation Street actor Shayne Ward and Pete Wicks are all expected to take part while judges Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood will return.

Tune into Strictly Come Dancing on Saturday, September 14 at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.