EXCLUSIVE: Craig Revel Horwood, who has been a judge on the BBC show for 20 years, gave a definitive answer when asked whether he would quit Strictly Come Dancing any time soon
Craig Revel Horwood has no plans to waltz off Strictly any time soon.
The TV favourite has been a judge on the dance contest since it started in 2004 and he’s loving it more than ever.
In fact, the only way he’ll go is if he dies or gets sacked.
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Craig says: “I want to keep doing Strictly. It’s my hobby. Most old people go off and paint and do watercolours. But I get to do Strictly.
“I’ll do it until I’m dead, because I love it. The only other thing that could happen is they kick me off.
“You never know, I could be cancelled any second. I’m quite a loudmouth!”
Craig has always been famed for being Strictly’s Mr Nasty due to his no-nonsense judging style and withering put-downs.
After all, one of his catchphrases is, “Di-sas-ter!”
It’s a reputation he is thrilled about.
“I love being the villain on the panel,” he admits. “I wouldn’t want to be anything else. I think the villain is always the most talented!”
It means that whenever Craig does roles in panto, he’s always cast as a meanie.
This year is no different as he’s playing Captain Hook in Peter Pan at Milton Keynes Theatre and he’s very keen for the audience to play along… oh yes he is!
He says: “People boo and I love it. I encourage it, darling.”
In recent years Craig has toned down his nastiness a bit as the culture on TV changes.
And he insists he does his best to make sure he doesn’t go too far… especially if it’ll cost him the job he loves so much.
He says: “I can read the room generally. You learn where the line is.”
Craig is so much nicer these days, he reckons co-star Shirley Ballas is now becoming the toughest judge to impress on the panel.
The pair regularly disagree on the show.
“Shirley and I have tete-a-tetes,” he says. “She is a stickler for ballroom and Latin technique and I waive that sometimes… the emotion gets to me every now and then.”
Craig even reckons dance ability isn’t the most important thing for contestants to master.
This year we saw reality star Pete Wicks make it to the semi final despite struggling with his routines.
And of course, comic Chris McCausland is the hot favourite to win in tomorrow’s final when even he admits rival Tasha Ghouri is better.
Craig says: “You don’t have to be the best dancer to win. You just have to get the audience on your side.
“All the way through the series, 50% of the score comes from the audience. But when it gets to the final, 100% of the vote comes from them. So it’s a show for the people. All the judges do is guide people.”
After Strictly finishes tomorrow night, Craig has plenty in the pipeline.
The Aussie-born choreographer will be finishing his run in panto and then directing the Strictly arena tour.
After that he’s heading to Australia to judge on their version of Strictly. And then it’s back here for a tour.
He jokes: “After all of that I’ll be having two months off!”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
