He’s the sharp-tongued judge on Dancing with the Stars who never holds back on his opinion, whether he’s dishing out praise or delivering withering criticism.
But just who is Craig Revel Horwood?
The dancer and choreographer only joined the Australian version of DWTS in recent years, but he’s not exactly a newcomer to TV dance competitions!
In fact, he has a long and impressive career not only as a dancer and reality TV judge, but as an author, theatre director and conductor too.
Here’s all you know about the judge that celebrities truly love to fear on Dancing with the Stars.
Who is Craig Revel Horwood?
You’d be forgiven for thinking Horwood was born in the UK, given his clipped tones and posh pronunication, but the 59-year-old was actually born in Ballarat, Victoria!
He began his dancing career in Melbourne, but moved to London to further his career in 1989 when he was 24 years old (Horwood eventually became a British citizen in 2011).
Over the years he built up a spectacular CV by choreographing and directing some of the biggest shows on London’s West End – think West Side Story, Miss Saigon, Sunset Boulevard, Sister Act, Strictly Ballroom The Musical and Chess.
Horwood’s move into TV came in 2004, when he joined the judging panel of the BBC’s hugely popular Strictly Come Dancing.
He quickly gained a reputation for being one of the show’s harshest judges, developing a reputation for being the ‘’bad cop’’ of the panel (for the record, on Strictly Come Dancing he gave a lowly score of 1 more times than any other judge in the show’s history!)
When did Craig Revel Horwood join Dancing with the Stars Australia?
Horwood was brought on board as a judge for Dancing with the Stars
in 2019, when the show underwent a ‘’reboot’’ and moved from Network 10 to Network Seven.
This year, he is joined on the DWTS panel by Mark Wilson, Sharna Burgess and Helen Richey.
He’s equally loved and loathed for his acid tongue, unforgiving scoring, and obsession with perfect technique.
What is Craig Revel Horwood famous for?
On Dancing with the Stars, Horwood is known for his dramatic, slightly exaggerated way of speaking.
‘’It was a dance dis-ah-ster, dah-ling!’’ is a common catchcry, as is ‘’Three words: Fab-uh-lous!’’
So popular is Horwood’s manner of speaking that in the UK, fans can actually download ringtones of his voice to their phones!
Profits from the downloads go to the National Osteoporosis Society – a cause Horwood is passionate about, as his mother suffered from the bone disease.
In 2015, Horwood revealed on ITV’s Loose Women that he had suffered from anorexia and body dysmorphia as a young dancer as he struggled to live up to the ideal of what male dancers were ‘’supposed’’ to look like.
‘’I’ve battled food issues since my late teens,’’ he told The Mail Online in 2019. ‘’I was quite chubby, so when I started dancing professionally I had to work hard to stay slim. I still battle with my food demons, but I’m much better at keeping them under control.’’
Is Craig Revel Horwood married?
Horwood was married to wife Jane Horwood for two years, from 1990 to 1992.
He later told OK! magazine that although he now identifies as a gay man, he was ‘’bisexual for a long time’’.
‘’I flitted between men and women quite a lot between the ages of 17 and 26,’’ he revealed. ‘’My wife Jane left me for another man. Then I fell in love with a bloke. I have been gay ever since.’’
The man he fell in love with was Damon Scott, a runner-up on a season of Britain’s Got Talent.
Although that relationship didn’t last, Horwood has been in a relationship with horticulturist Jonathan Myring since 2018.
In 2020, the pair became engaging whilst on holiday together in Tasmania, with Horwood revealing that Myring was the one to propose.
‘Jonathan popped the question at the end of March on holiday in Tasmania and it was a total surprise,’’ Horwood told OK!
‘’It was really sweet, actually, because Jonathan just said, ‘I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’ It was absolutely perfect.’’
No date for the wedding has been set, but Horwood said he’d love to get married in Hampshire, UK, where the couple live.
‘’I don’t want a big, splashy, massive wedding,’’ he said. ‘’It would be nice to have something intimate for ourselves, very close friends and family.’’
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