Craig Revel Horwood

Craig Revel Horwood (born 4 January 1965) is an Australian-British author, dancer, choreographer, conductor, theatre director, and former drag queen in the United Kingdom.

He is also a patron of the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

Horwood is best known as a judge on the popular BBC dancing series Strictly Come Dancing, and until 13 November 2021, as he tested positive for COVID-19 and missed the following week's show, had been the only judge to have appeared in every edition since its inception.

Horwood was born in Ballarat in Victoria, Australia on 4 January 1965.

His father Phil was a former Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant whose alcoholism had "torn their family apart".

He started his career as a dancer in Melbourne, then moved to London to take advantage of the greater opportunities available there and to dance competitively.

Horwood directed the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and staged Once Upon a Time – The Life of Hans Christian Andersen, a live concert in Copenhagen to mark the author's bicentenary.

Horwood has been a member of the judging panel on the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing since its inception in 2004.

He has a reputation for being the harshest of the judges and is often the recipient of jeering and booing from the studio audience; he also received criticism for his apparent bias towards Emma Bunton in the fourth series of the competition.

Horwood is known for stringently applying rules, as for example when marking down for an 'illegal lift' in some dances if the lady's foot leaves the floor.

Horwood has given a score of "1" more times than any other judge, including as part of the lowest-ever total score of 8 for Quentin Willson, dancing a Cha-cha-cha, in 2004.

The routine was also the only ever single-digit score and the only time more than one member of the panel has given a score of "1".

During the summer of 2008, he directed a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Sunset Boulevard at the Watermill Theatre, which transferred to London's West End at the Comedy Theatre.

In December 2009, Horwood played the part of the Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at Venue Cymru in Llandudno, North Wales, a role he reprised in December 2010 at the Hawth in Crawley, and at the Orchard Theatre in Dartford, Kent, alongside Ann Widdecombe in 2011.

Horwood directed and choreographed the 2010–11 UK and Canadian tour of Chess, a revival of the 1986 musical conceived and written by Tim Rice, with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus (of ABBA).

In 1989, he moved to the UK from Australia, and on 20 August 2011, he became a British citizen.

Revel is Horwood's middle name; it is not double-barrelled.

In his autobiography, Horwood reveals that at the age of 17, he made money by appearing as a drag queen in bars and clubs and that his relationship with an unnamed celebrity was akin to prostitution.

Horwood's West End credits include Spend Spend Spend and My One and Only, both of which gained Laurence Olivier Award nominations for Best Choreography.

He was associate director and choreographer of West Side Story, assisted Bob Avian with Martin Guerre and was resident director of Miss Saigon.

He choreographed Hard Times – The Musical, Calamity Jane, Tommy Cooper – Jus' Like That and the play Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, starring Claire Bloom and Billy Zane at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.

He also directed and choreographed Beautiful and Damned.

He directed the Welsh Première Concert Production of My Land's Shore for the Gate Theatre in Cardiff.

He has directed the UK Tour of Strictly Come Dancing since 2012.

Then in December 2012, he played the same role at the Swan Theatre in High Wycombe, again alongside Widdecombe and also in December 2013 at the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend.

In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Horwood played Captain Hook in Peter Pan at The Orchard Theatre, Dartford, Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe and Churchill Theatre, Bromley.

He then starred as Miss Hannigan in the UK touring production of Annie in 2015, 2019, 2023 and also the West End (in 2017) at the Piccadilly Theatre.

Regional theatre choreography credits include Pal Joey, Arcadia, On the Razzle and My One and Only at the Chichester Festival Theatre, Guys and Dolls in Sheffield, Anything Goes and South Pacific for Grange Park Opera and Hot Mikado at the Watermill Theatre in Newbury.

Horwood directed and choreographed the UK tour of musical Sister Act from 2016 to 2017; and in 2017 he directed and choreographed the UK tour of Son of a Preacher Man, a new musical featuring the music of Dusty Springfield.

In December 2017, he played the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton; and in December 2018, he played the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking.

Horwood has a waxwork in Madame Tussauds Blackpool which has been on display since July 2018.

On 20 July 2021, Horwood was given an Honorary Doctor of Arts by the University of Winchester at Winchester Cathedral.

He is often seen performing ballroom and Latin routines including, in 2019, a performance themed around Hello, Dolly!.

In December 2019, Horwood reprised his role as the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Manchester Opera House, Manchester.

In December 2021, he once again played the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton alongside Debbie McGee.

In December 2022, he played the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella at the Bristol Hippodrome, Bristol.

Horwood embarked on his first solo tour around England, The All Balls and Glitter Tour, talking about his life and performing some of the music that has been the soundtrack to his career.

He directed Strictly Ballroom the Musical which was due to tour the UK from September 2020, but got pushed back to September 2022 due to COVID-19.

Special Events

This was due to be during Spring 2020, but due to COVID-19 it was rescheduled for Spring 2022.