Craig has been on Strictly Come Dancing since day one, and is the longest running judge on the show. He tells The Mirror what he’s getting up to next…
Strictly’s very own panto villain Craig Revel Horwood will soon be waltzing into a festive role as the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella.
“I absolutely love playing the villains because I think they’re so much fun,” he says. “I’ve played loads of wicked queens.”
Yet his reputation as Strictly’s most villainous judge is, he says, unjust.
“By telling the truth that some of the celebrities were awful, people decided I was Mr Naaaarsty,” he says. “I found that – and still find it – quite funny.”
Craig will be in his element on Saturday night, when the show is broadcast live from the splendour of the Blackpool Tower Ballroom.
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Alongside dances from the remaining couples, viewers will be treated to a special performance by Steps and a group dance from four returning finalists.
Although for Horwood no star will ever eclipse Dame Shirley Bassey.
“Oh I love her,” he says. “One night she came on to Strictly Come Dancing. I’ll never forget her, it was brilliant, she literally waltzed on, came up the stairs, belted out the tune, walked down the stairs, got in the taxi and went home.
“I mean Bette Midler took four hours over a sound check and we had to do it five times. Dame Shirley is my diva.”
Horwood’s often acerbic disclosures come in his new book Revelations: Songs Boys Don’t Sing, released this month as a celebration of his one man tour earlier this year.
“If you’re holding this book, you’ve either seen the show, stumbled upon it while searching for a Mary Berry cookbook, or you’re one of my exes checking to see if you’ve been mentioned,” he says.
Cheekily talking of intimacy with his fiance Jonathan Myring, he continues: I suppose I’m what you call, “verse? In the gay world, that means versatile.”
Also opening up in about his childhood with an alcoholic dad in Australia, Horwood, now 60, says: “Somehow – in a household filled with dirty bikes, goats, and didgeridoos – I found my way to a ballet.
“I was a porky little kid. I was quite voluptuous, darling. In fact, I was so much so that my PE teacher said ‘Craig, you need to take your top off and run round the oval.’”
Taking up the trumpet, then going to dance classes on the advice of a pal, Amanda, he says: “I absolutely fell in love with jazz ballet.
“So much so that I started training in classical ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and all of that stuff.”
His first job, aged 17, in an Australian production of West Side Story, opened up a world of possibilities for the young dancer – taking him to Paris in the 1980s – only for him to be sacked on his first night at the world famous Moulin Rouge, over a row about duets.
He blames his demise on “this woman, a cow, called Debbie.”
But it didn’t hold him back and, in the UK, he found himself starring in Cats and Miss Saigon at the same time.
He says: “I was doing a matinee of Cats and then going over to Saigon, in the evening, or vice versa. I was very confused. I didn’t know if | was a Gl or a pussy.”
Perhaps his biggest career surprise has been the phenomenal success of Strictly.
Recalling how he joined in 2004, he says: “I got the call and was told ‘they are calling it Strictly Come Dancing. It’s where celebrities learn to dance with professional dancers in three weeks.’ I said ‘No, that will never work.’
“I said ‘it sounds terrible. It sounds like car crash television. I’m not interested in it.’
“I was stressed out because I had a show that I was working on. I had a timeline and it was my debut as a director/choreographer in the West End. I just really didn’t have the time.
“I went outside and took the call from the BBC. I slagged a few things off and I said, ‘the show will never work, you know.”
“Bizarrely, they said ‘Oh, fantastic. Can you come up? We want to do a screen test.’ I went ‘Oh, what have I done?’
“I didn’t think anyone would watch it, but I mean, it’s gone to 63 countries worldwide and is still huge. I mean, it’s a little bit insane.”
The insanity is in keeping with Horwood’s frenetic approach to life.
After his stint in panto at Nottingham’s Theatre Royal, he is off to Australia to record Dancing with the Stars and will catch up with family – his mum, sisters and little brother Trent all remain in his homeland.
Speaking fondly of his 84-year-old mum, Beverley, he says: “I taught her about Veuve Cliquot.”
A very rewarding experience for Horwood, was looking back through his family history on the TV show Who Do You Think You Are?
He says: “ I discovered a lineage rich with resilience and artistic talent. I learned about my great-great-grandfather, Moses Horwood, who was transported to Australia as a convict, and my great-great-grandfather, Harry Macklin Shaw, a champion clog dancer.
“Those revelations provided me with a deeper understanding of my heritage and the roots of my own passion for dance.”
Sadly, his relationship with his dad, Philip, was less satisfying.
He says: “He was a terrible alcoholic and that was prevalent all the way through our childhood. Growing up around alcoholism is just awful.
“It was just so abusive at home. That’s the reason I started dancing as well. Not only because I was porky, but because I just couldn’t stand being at home. I think that led me to a life of dance.
“There was a good reason why I lived 10,000 miles away from home.”
After Philip – a former lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy – died suddenly, Horwood reveals the toxicology report found evidence of massive amounts of alcohol.
“I think people don’t realise how dangerous alcohol can be,” he says.“Poor dad had a disease.”
Recalling an incident that landed his father in jail, when his abusive behaviour towards his mum spiralled, he adds: “It got so bad that Dad ended up trying to shoot her and my brother-in-law – and went to prison for it.”
He also recalls his father’s one extended period of sobriety.
“He was in AA for four years and I went through that with him a little bit,” he says. “They were the only four years I think he was ever really sober.
“It was like Jekyll and Hyde. So when he died, I made the decision that I was going to learn to love him and also love who he could have been.”
And he is deeply loving towards his mum.
“She played a pivotal role in nurturing my early interests, including my passion for performance,” he says. “Despite the difficulties at home, her presence offered a sense of normalcy and encouragement.”
Two other great mums who he heaps praise upon just happen to be queens.
He says: “Queen Elizabeth ll bless her; gorgeous, was the most remarkable lady. I met her for an Australians Day in Buckingham Palace.”
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla is a friend.
“I directed the show for the Royal Osteoporosis Society, which I am patron and ambassador for, and Camilla is the president of,” he says. “We raised £350,000, but personally l’ve raised £500,000 for that charity, so I’m very proud to have that platform on which to stand.
“Camilla and I were dancing together and my dád called me and said ‘Jeez Craig. I’ve just bloody seen you mate, on the bloody news, on the six o’clock news, dancing with that bloody Camilla?’|”
But one of his most surprising revelations, considering their spats on air, is his close friendship with Anton du Beke.
“I really love him,” he confesses.
While of the show that made him a household name, he adds: “Strictly continues to inspire me.”
*Craig Revel Horwood’s new book Revelations: Songs Boys Don’t Sing is available to order now priced £39.95 from A Way With Media
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