Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood ditches ‘catty’ judging style over fears of being cancelled

Judge has reputation for making cutting remarks on the dancing show

Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood has admitted he has toned down his brutal judging style over concerns he would be cancelled.

In his 20 years of presenting the BBC dancing show, the 59-year-old has developed a reputation for being the pantomime villain of the series – giving out harsh scores and even more scathing criticism.

However, the judge awarded a rare score of 10 to Love Island winner Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec during Saturday night’s show – and has admitted he has changed his style of judging.

The judge, who worked on every series of the show, looked back on being “really harsh 20 years ago”.

“I have changed my style of judging,” he told Radio Times. “When I look back, I think, ‘Ooh, that’s cutting.’ It would now be classed as bullying, and then I’d be cancelled."

He explained that his kinder persona hasn’t come about because he’s afraid of public backlash, but has realised he could provide more constructive feedback and useful teaching advice to contestants.

“It’s not fear of being cancelled,” he said. “It’s just, how can I reach out to them and help them to improve, rather than just saying, ‘This is wrong, that’s wrong.’ I’m thinking more like a teacher than a judge.”

“If the standard is low, I really haven’t got anything to say except what’s wrong with it. But this series there’s been an awful lot that’s right with everything,” he explained.

Craig Revel Horwood on the 2016 series of ‘Strictly’ (BBC/Guy Levy)

“They’re much more talented now than they used to be. Back then, we had snooker players and politicians, and it was pretty tough on people who couldn’t dance. I was very direct. I do still say what’s wrong, but you can wrap the truth in a nice way.”

Revel Horwood’s most brutal remarks in the past include the judge telling Ann Widdecombe in 2010 that she was a “dancing hippo”

He also previously told broadcaster Jeremy Vine that he danced “like a stork that had been struck by lightning” and informed former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that she “limped about like you were lost at a party somewhere drunk”.

Revel Horwood previously told Ann Widdecombe that she was like a ‘dancing hippo’ (BBC/Guy Levy)

During one awkward interaction, he told Anton Du Beke, who previously danced as a pro on the series, that he had “awful fake teeth” – before realising they were his real teeth.

However, Revel Horwood has admitted he hasn’t gone completely nice and insisted that he wasn’t concerned over hurting the dancers’ feelings.

“I’m not there for their emotions. I don’t care how it affects them in that way, because they need to learn and respect my opinion,” he said.

It comes after the show has been tarnished by accusations of bullying and abusive behaviour, forcing the BBC to apologise and fire two professional dancers, from the cast. This led the BBC to introduce new duty-of-care measures and chaperones into every rehearsal room.

Speaking about the new measures, he said that the chaperones in rehearsal rooms will be able to monitor pressure being put on the celebrity participants.

“It’s about having someone there in the room and guarding both the celebrity and the professional, and also encouraging the fact that it should be fun,” he said. “They still need to be pushed, because we can’t get away from the fact that dancing is hard, but it’s a light entertainment programme as well.”

During Sunday night’s results show, it was EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick and his partner Michelle Tsiakkas, along with Gladiators athlete Montell Douglas and her partner Johannes Radebe who were voted into the dreaded dance-off.

Ultimately, the judges voted unanimously to save Douglas and Radebe, meaning that Borthwick was booted from the competition.