Inside Craig Revel Horwood's life – Strictly feud, married to woman and royal link

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood is known to fans across the country for his quick-witted quips, harsh critiques and loveable nature.

The star started his career in West End musicals dazzling audiences with his impressive dance moves.

But years later he became widely known for his role as a judge on the BBC show where he quickly became recognised for his sharp commentary with contestants on the show.

Due to his reputation of being the harshest of the judges, Craig is often the recipient of jeering from the studio audience. However, he is also the judge many long to impress.

As of 2020, Craig is the only judge to have appeared in every edition since the show first began in 2004.

But although many know Craig for his on-screen persona, Daily Star has taken a look at his life away from the show and highlighted some astonishing facts that some fans may not be aware of.

First marriage

Before he began his relationship with current partner Jonathan Myring, Craig was previously married to a woman named Jane Horwood.

In 1990, at the age of 25, the Strictly judge walked down the aisle with his Caerphilly-born ex-wife Jane who was five years older than him at the time.

The former couple first met when they shared a house in London together while he was starring in the stage show Miss Saigon.

In his autobiography All Balls and Glitter: My Life the star explained: “Gradually, our intimacy developed into a proper relationship.

“Jane had in fact thought I was gay when we first met.

“At the beginning of 1990, Jane and I became an item. We resided in a one-bedroom flat in Crouch End, which was very romantic – a bit like Robert Redford and Jane Fonda in Barefoot in the Park.”

“Eventually, I decided I was in love with Jane and, in a rash moment, I asked her to marry me,” he added.

Talking candidly about their relationship, he said: “I was both gay and straight, so being bisexual, it wasn’t a big issue for me or for her. We were two people who loved each other, coming together and wanting to have kids before it was too late.”

But the couple’s marriage didn’t last very long as their sex life quickly deteriorated and Jane was caught having an affair with another man.

Craig continued: “It didn’t last, mainly because our sex life diminished somewhat and I suppose that led to the inevitable scenario – Jane slept with someone else.

“I discovered the affair just before our two-year anniversary.

“We had a friend whom we called Lightning, on account of his not being very quick off the mark, and I found that they were sleeping together. I moved out and he moved in.”

Body dysmorphia

Dance professional Craig previously revealed he had a “lifelong” struggle with body dysmorphia and anorexia.

The star has always been fairly open about his battles with his weight as he was bullied in the past for the way he looked.

In 2008, Craig told MailOnline that food became his “comfort blanket”.

But falling in love with dance made him more conscious of his body and his weight.

The star said: “I went for four years surviving on lettuce alone.

“I was quite chubby, so when I started dancing professionally I had to work hard to stay slim.

“This led to a lifelong struggle with anorexia and body dysmorphia. I still battle with my food demons, but I’m much better at keeping them under control.”

Over time Craig did manage to master his weight but last year the star admitted to going under the knife to remove breast tissue which made him more confident.

Talking on White Wine Question Time podcast, the dancer said: “I had breast tissue that I couldn’t get rid of no matter what.

“No amount of muscle can make that go away, so I had to have it surgically removed.

“When I took the bandages off, I just started crying in the mirror because it was the first time I’d had a flat chest.”

Craig’s criminal connection

On the popular BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? Craig discovered that his great-great-grandfather was an English petty criminal called Moses Horwood, who was transported as a convict in the year 1841.

After finding out that he had a criminal connection in his bloodline, the star dancer was evidently stunned by the revelation.

“To think we come from convict stock! How exciting is that. Hardly royalty though is it?” He joked.

Historian Sue explained: “He was an interesting character.

“Moses was having a drink at the Queen’s Head Hotel in Cheltenham one night with a few mates and thought he would go steal a few things from someone’s room.”

She added: “Moses was hauled in and charged for burglary.”

Royal link

Dancing pro Craig has a royal link that many are unaware of.

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and Craig both support the Royal Osteoporosis Society and have integral roles in the charity.

In October 2001, the Duchess became president of the society, while Craig is an ambassador.

In 2017, the pair engaged in a brief dance for Strictly Come Dancing’s Christmas special.

The dance was staged at the Palace in order to highlight the importance and the benefits of older people staying active.

Strictly inspired wedding

Craig is preparing to walk down the aisle to marry his fiancé Jonathan Myring in 2023 and the star is already thinking of Strictly Come Dancing theme.

The dance judge first confirmed that he was in a relationship with Jonathan in March 2018 and told The Sun: “He’s good looking, 5ft 10in, dark hair and beard. We met on the Strictly Tour a month ago.

“He came to the show with a friend and we met backstage. We plan on seeing each other a lot. We have all our weekends planned until Strictly.”

In May, Craig and Jonathan appeared on The Steph Show and spoke openly about their marriage proposal which took place during a trip to Tasmania.

Jonathan explained: “It was a slight disaster really. I had a beautiful engagement planned in Tasmania and Craig refused to go and sit on the banks of the river to look for platypus. So I had to call him to frantically call him to go…”

Interrupting his partner, Craig then said: “That’s because the last time we waited for platypus, it was four hours and we didn’t see one.

“So I wasn’t going to sit through that again, was I? All I wanted to do was go back to the hotel and have a bubble bath.

“Well I jumped in the bubble bath and then Jonathan jumped in with me and proposed in the bubble bath with a glass of champagne.”

Strictly feud

Craig is known for his outspoken personality, and that has led to a number of clashes over the years.

He had a number of clashes with professional dancer Brendan Cole before he was dropped from the line-up back in 2018.

Last month, Craig revealed to Kate Thornton on her podcast White Wine Question Time that he tried to build bridges with Brendan by inviting him round to his house after his axe.

He said: “I invited him around two years ago to my house. I hadn’t spoken to him for years. I thought ‘wouldn’t it be nice to see Brendan, just to see if he’s working…

“Oh god this is going out to people isn’t it?” He asked.

“Anyway he had an electric car. He was showing that off. We hated each other.”

He also admitted that he and Brendan “did lock horns” during their time together on Strictly, leading to some very awkward moments on camera.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk