diff --git a/.github/workflows/wheels.yml b/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
index d8e88e41fc9..3429b2ca501 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/wheels.yml
@@ -27,76 +27,10 @@ jobs:
           name: wheels
           path: wheelhouse/*
 
-  test_unix_wheels:
-    needs: build_wheels
-    name: Test wheels on ${{ matrix.os }} with ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false  # to not fail all combinations if just one fail
-      matrix:
-        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-13]
-        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: wheels
-          path: wheelhouse
-
-      - name: Display downloaded artifacts
-        run: ls -l wheelhouse
-
-      - name: Get wheel filename
-        run: echo "WHEELNAME=$(ls ./wheelhouse/sktime-*none-any.whl)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
-      - name: Install wheel and extras
-        run: python -m pip install "${{ env.WHEELNAME }}[all_extras_pandas2,dev]"
-
-      - name: Run tests
-        run: make test_without_datasets
-
-  test_windows_wheels:
-    needs: build_wheels
-    name: Test wheels on ${{ matrix.os }} with ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-    runs-on: windows-latest
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false  # to not fail all combinations if just one fail
-      matrix:
-        os: [windows-latest]
-        python-version: ["3.9", "3.10", "3.11", "3.12", "3.13"]
-
-    steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
-        with:
-          python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
-
-      - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4
-        with:
-          name: wheels
-          path: wheelhouse
-
-      - name: Display downloaded artifacts
-        run: ls -l wheelhouse
-
-      - name: Get wheel filename
-        run: echo "WHEELNAME=$(ls ./wheelhouse/sktime-*none-any.whl)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
-
-      - name: Install wheel and extras
-        run: python -m pip install "${env:WHEELNAME}[all_extras_pandas2,dev]"
-
-      - name: Run tests  # explicit commands as windows does not support make
-        run: python -m pytest  --ignore sktime/datasets
-
   upload_wheels:
     name: Upload wheels to PyPI
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [build_wheels,test_unix_wheels,test_windows_wheels]
+    needs: [build_wheels]
 
     steps:
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v4