Craig Revel Horwood assures Hugh Montgomery that the Strictly Come Dancing tour will be just like what he sees on TV.
I imagined it would be a nightmare trying to train a celebrity who had never danced before and pairing them with a professional dancer.’ Craig reflects candidly on how he felt when he was originally approached to join the Strictly Come Dancing judging panel in 2004, at the show’s start.
Of course, he was proven wrong – and now that the show has completed its 20th season, many of the contestants and professionals are back on the dancefloor for the annual live tour.
Craig is directing the tour as well as starring alongside fellow judges Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke, and he sees it as a perfect opportunity for everyone involved to ‘knees-up’ after the strains of the TV run. ‘The pressure is off, and they can truly dance for the fun of dancing, rather than it being a competition in that sense,’ he explains.
Nonetheless, a different Glitterball winner is awarded by the public each night, so those who missed out on the trophy can have their opportunity – and Craig will still be on hand to deliver his deliciously biting commentary on the couple’s efforts.
Craig has always been known for his harsh honesty on the show, but rather than being a part of his TV persona, he claims it’s true to his off-screen nature.
‘There’s no point in beating around the bush. Being Australian, people speak their mind and tell you the truth to your face – and I come with that.’
Craig, who began his career as a performer in Australia, never practised ballroom dancing himself, but as a dancer in musicals and the like, he encountered plenty of competition.
‘Oh, my goodness, yes… you would walk into a room, and there would be 400 people there all fighting for six jobs,’ he says. ‘In Australia, it was especially difficult because there weren’t that many shows to go around.’
Craig relocated to the UK in 1989 and quit performing a few years later to become a choreographer: ‘Competing against 16-year-olds when you’re 30 is no fun,’ he says.
In retrospect, making such a significant professional shift at that age was wise: he accumulated a great CV, working on West End shows and much else, until Strictly came calling in his late thirties.
As a result, he has become one of the most recognised individuals in Britain, and, like all of Strictly’s principal actors, he has had to deal with tabloid scrutiny and speculative rumours about on-set feuds, among other things.
Craig could hardly sound less bothered by what people may write about him: ‘I treat it very much like reading a comic strip. They’ve got a job to do, to sell papers, and if there’s nothing really going on, they’ve got to make stuff up – it’s called embellishing, darling,’ he laughs.
Strictly Come Dancing The Live Tour is in Birmingham until Sunday, then touring until 12 February.
Strictly Ballroom The Musical is in Reading until Saturday, then touring until 15 July.