Discover how Craig Revel Horwood, Strictly Come Dancing star, enjoys life in Rutland and Stamford, sharing stories of his career, debut album, and festive plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ufeffSilent night? Not a chance\u2026 as Strictly Come Dancing\u2019s 21st series reaches its conclusion on 16th December. You can expect music, laughter and rapturous applause. No rest for the wickedly entertaining though, as local dancer, choreographer and singer Craig Revel Horwood celebrates the release of his debut album plus a lively Christmas and New Year before embarking on his 2025 album tour<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\ufeffThe sound of Strictly hardly adheres to the idea of a Silent Night, with a glittery mix of music and dancing, rapturous applause and raucous laughter along the way too. \u201cWe\u2019re having a real laugh actually, it\u2019s a fantastic group,\u201d says Craig Revel Horwood of the current cohort of celebrities, paired up with professional dancers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been running for 20 years, and the format has been exported to 63 countries worldwide,\u201d says Craig, who moved to the area three years ago. \u201cI couldn\u2019t work somewhere if the atmosphere wasn\u2019t exciting and enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHaving choreographed Now That\u2019s What I Call A Musical, which is running now and will continue to do so until April, I can say from experience that you only get the best out of people by creating an atmosphere that\u2019s comfortable and enjoyable. That\u2019s exactly what we have on Strictly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow That\u2019s What I Call A Musical is terrific fun. We\u2019re fortunate to have some amazing guest stars from Sinitta and Sonia to Carol Decker and Toyah\u2026 all of the names that you know and love from 1989 when the production is set.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt follows the story of Gemma and April, who are two school friends busily planning their lives based on dreams of snogging Rick Astley and reading Number One magazine. Then, fast forward your cassette deck to Birmingham in 2009 and there\u2019s a prospect of school reunion, with all of the usual old flames and old friends appearing!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s had some very good reviews and it\u2019s very funny, a real time capsule from an era when you\u2019d record music onto a cassette off the charts, long before you couldn\u2019t just Ask Siri to play what you wanted to hear!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTheatre was my first love, but Strictly is a very different prospect altogether; just as enjoyable but very different. It\u2019s a huge effort to pull everything together as you\u2019d expect from a show that\u2019s ambitious, technically complex, and so popular. It all begins on the day the new range of celebrities are revealed, and genuinely I only hear about them about an hour before the press are told. I have to start doing press interviews almost immediately so all I really have to go on is their biographies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThroughout the series there are press interviews and the recording of companion show It Takes Two, but the actual show sees me arriving at Elstree Studios for about midday, ready to go live at 6.30pm that evening. Not having too much knowledge of the celebrities in advance is nice, because it means I get a little of the enjoyment that the live audience and the viewers watching at home experience. You get to know them, form opinions and then watch them grow, that\u2019s the delight of the programme.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s genuinely hard work for the competitors. They\u2019re up at six in the morning, and arrive at the studio soon after. Interviews, filming inserts and rehearsals is a constant. It\u2019s busy and it\u2019s hard work but it\u2019s also mentally draining too as learning something new \u2013 especially in such a short space of time and to such a high standard \u2013 really does require a lot of concentration.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe celebrities really do take on board the professionals\u2019 help and you see them genuinely improving week after week. You also see their confidence growing and you get to see the relationship develop between that year\u2019s dancers and professionals. To say that it\u2019s ultimately a competition, there are few other examples of \u2018rivals\u2019 wanting so much for success for each other and cheering each other on so much!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s joyous when people like Wynne, Paul and Chris bring their personalities to the show and impart lots of humour into the format, bringing some really good one-liners to Saturday night. It\u2019s just a joy to watch and a joy to be a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In previous years Craig has been involved with Strictly until mid-December, and then embarked on pantomime season before taking it a little easier in the spring and summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Born in Ballarat in Victoria, Australia, and with family still over on the sunnier side of the world, Craig normally gets to see family and friends during what tries to pass itself off as our summer. However this year there\u2019s a big birthday to celebrate and the refurbishment of Craig and partner Jonathan\u2019s house to finish off. So instead, the couple are deferring Craig\u2019s birthday celebrations until July when his family can visit him here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before that though, Craig will divide his time between the touring musical and Strictly, but he took a couple of days out mid-October to speak to us a couple of days before the launch of his debut album, Revelations – Songs Boys Don\u2019t Sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite a momentous occasion for me as people don\u2019t know me as a singer, even though it\u2019s been a part of my work on stage throughout my career. I really enjoy singing and wanted to challenge myself to release something different, with the music I love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe album\u2019s name comes from the fact that it features songs from the theatre that, normally, only leading ladies perform. Each of the 14 tracks on the album mean something to me and they all genuinely resonate with my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a challenge too, because the vocal ranges are so big. They\u2019re very different to the songs men sing in theatre as there are some very low lows, but also very high highs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This Is My Life, was the song that Craig selected from Shirley Bassey\u2019s titular album of 1968 and it has already been released as a single. Other tracks that really resonate with Craig though include the Lionel Bart-penned As Long As He Needs Me from the musical Oliver! and Memories from Cats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other tracks on the album are a celebration to the people that Craig has worked with throughout his career such as Barbara Streisand with whom he\u2019s worked as an advocate for the World Osteoporosis Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From early April Craig will also embark on his first album tour, no fewer than 54 dates including venues in our area. \u201cA lot of people are nervous about live performances, but for me, it\u2019s the better option. I prefer it because we can\u2019t stop and do it again. With pre-records you\u2019re constantly stopping and doing it over and over again and you overspeak because of editing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRecording an album, too, is totally different from a live performance and a bit scary but I had great fun doing it, recording it earlier in the year at Umbrella Studios in Soho. I had a couple of weeks off and recorded each of the tracks across five days. That\u2019s pretty good going when some artists are working on an album recording for a year or two.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to touring with the album as it\u2019ll be a very intimate experience for the audience, with just myself and the pianist on stage. I\u2019ll perform a few of the songs from the album that mean a lot to me and tell stories about them but also about how I fell in love with music and about my own musical journey. Funny stories, anecdotes and laughter, it\u2019s all there and all designed to create a really good evening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Strictly draws to its conclusion and before his album tour, Craig is also appearing at Milton Keynes Theatre as Captain Hook in this year\u2019s pantomime, and then in January, the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour travels around nine of Britain\u2019s largest venues bringing Strictly to the stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the busiest time of the year by far,\u201d says Craig. \u201cAll of my commitments are either back-to-back or they overlap. Even when the Strictly live tour finishes on 9th February I\u2019m flying out to Australia the following day to record their version of Dancing with the Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is of course the small matter of Christmas and New Year in between too. Although, there\u2019s a little time off, Craig is already committed to creating a festive dinner worthy of a TV cookery show, never mind one about dancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJonathan\u2019s family are all coming over to ours as they live in Leicester, so there will be about 20 around the table. I come from a big family so I\u2019m used to cooking for large numbers of people and I enjoy cooking. Christmas lunch for me is a proper traditional turkey with my own special stuffing and all of the trimmings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not a spreadsheet cook with all of the timings on a long list, but I\u2019m organised in my own mind and I know what I\u2019m doing. On Christmas Eve I finish a little earlier so I can come home and get all of the prep done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen it\u2019s Christmas lunch and the King\u2019s speech before presents,\u201d he says \u201cAnd an evening on the sofa!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As for New Year\u2019s Eve, it\u2019s all round to Craig and Jonathan\u2019s place for Champagne, cocktails and drag lasagne. \u2018Drag lasagne?\u2019 I asked, as if it wasn\u2019t a self-explanatory concept.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a big dress-up box, plenty of wigs and frocks, then everyone has to help themselves both to the accessories and to the big dish of lasagne. Much fun and laughter ensues!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fun and laughter characterises the season for most of us, but Craig is certainly busier than most. Happily, when things do quieten down, there will be plenty of time to enjoy living in the area. After three years living between Stamford and Peterborough, locals are now used to seeing Craig and Jonathan in their village pub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m part of the fixtures and fittings in the area now, so I can happily go into the pub and nobody\u2019s jaw hits the floor!\u201d he says. \u201cI really do love it here! I love the people, and I\u2019ve made some really good friends in the village!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n