{"id":2307,"date":"2022-02-11T11:22:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T11:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/stamford\/?p=796"},"modified":"2022-02-11T11:22:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-11T11:22:10","slug":"strictly-speaking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/highlights\/strictly-speaking\/02-2022","title":{"rendered":"Strictly speaking\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Residents of a local village have welcomed a new neighbour who also happens to be a familiar face from Saturday evenings in front of the TV. Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood and fianc\u00e9 Jonathan Myring have moved to the area and are currently renovating their property in between meeting the locals. This month we\u2019re treated to an exclusive interview with the judge, choreographer, director and author…<\/h3>\n
\"It's
It’s a 10 from us!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018A great idea, but doomed.\u2019 That was Craig Revel Horwood\u2019s verdict back in May 2004 when Strictly Come Dancing first sashayed into our sitting rooms. And now, Craig is also sashaying into the area too, having relocated to our part of the world from Hampshire. Currently he and partner Jonathan Myring are in the process of renovating a local property ready for their wedding, perhaps in summer 2023, subject to completion of work on their home and their work schedules.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d been dancing for years and had reached 30 years of age, by which time I was performing alongside eighteen-year olds,\u201d he says. \u201cI made a conscious decision to establish myself as a director and choreographer… I knew I\u2019d need to do it sooner, rather than later, in preference to trying to keep up with such a physically demanding job… and it really is demanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing the demands of dancing at that level I really doubted that a celebrity with no experience could come in and keep up with a professional. In fact, I gave the show three weeks, then I thought it\u2019d be for the chop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig has never been happier to be wrong in making such a prediction. The show has been running for 19 seasons. There have been over 360 episodes, viewed by an average of 12,000,000 people every Saturday, and the format has been licensed in no fewer than 60 countries, proving successful worldwide.<\/p>\n

Before Christmas, over 11m people tuned in to watch Rose Ayling-Ellis become the first deaf contestant to win the series with dance professional Giovanni, and the two squared off in the finals against Strictly\u2019s first same-sex couple \u2013 John Whaite and Johannes Radebe \u2013 making Strictly not only successful, but bold and progressive.<\/p>\n

Speaking of bold, for each and every one of its 19 series, Craig has sat alongside his fellow judges and has, from the outset, been quite deliberately outspoken.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore we were confirmed as Strictly\u2019s judges we each took screen tests, and there was a line in my tape \u2018dull, dull, dull,\u2019 which appealed to the producers. The \u2018Mr Nasty\u2019 image stuck, and the character and the reputation developed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deservedly? Absolutely not. For a start, all of Craig\u2019s feedback is delivered with very specific guidance on the contestants\u2019 technique and timing. It\u2019s also delivered with great humour and as he quite rightly points out, part of his work as choreographer and director is to dissect the technical aspect of performances to ensure they look polished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a professional critic and the feedback is always delivered as such,\u201d he says. \u201cA judge wears a wig and sits in judgement, a CEO has a boardroom persona: it\u2019s the same thing. Contestants do take feedback on board and work to improve their dance technique, and the result at the end of the series is some really good quality performances.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat joy towards the end of the series is what the contestants and the judges work towards, and that\u2019s why you never get bored with the show. In the industry you can spend typically two but anything up to five years on the same show, but the variety with Strictly is part of the joy. It\u2019s why, I think, the show still hasn\u2019t lost its momentum. It\u2019s good clean fun, at nobody\u2019s expense, and it\u2019s just wonderful TV to enjoy \u2013 with all of the associated colour and song \u2013 in the winter months, when the nights are dark and the temperatures drop.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig was born and raised in Ballarat in Australia, a city in Victoria with a population of 100,000 about an hour and a half from Melbourne. Having appeared on stage in West Side Story and La Cage aux Folles in the early 1980s, Craig moved to Europe and joined Lido de Paris on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es before performing in Formidable at the Moulin Rouge in 1988 and then moving to the UK in 1989 to star in Cats.<\/p>\n

By the mid-1990s, Craig was exclusively pursuing a career in directing and choreographing productions, around 30 major productions prior to the Strictly audition which would make him a household name. It\u2019s still a large part of his working life, but by no means his only annual commitment.<\/p>\n

\u201cStrictly begins production early in autumn with pre-filming and preparation for the series launch in September,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s live throughout October, November and December, so towards the end of the series \u2013 with pantomime season commencing from December \u2013 I juggle Strictly and panto rehearsals, then go straight into the direction of Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour which I\u2019ve been involved with since 2011.\u201d<\/p>\n

This season will also see Craig embark on his debut solo tour, rescheduled from last year, in which he\u2019ll talk more about his journey from Australia, to the West End, to Strictly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a fun show, with some backstage gossip, quite witty and candid observations. It\u2019ll also feature some very special performances of some of the music which have been the soundtrack to his career. We\u2019re in Peterborough in March and then we\u2019ll appear at Leicester\u2019s Curve in May, so two really good venues locally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be busy with all of the above until late summer, and at the tail end of the season I\u2019m hoping to plan a trip back to Australia to see family, which I\u2019ve not managed to do for the past couple of years,\u00a0 for obvious reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHappily, Jonathan is really involved in the house at the moment. We\u2019ve been together for over three years, but both of us had respective houses, so this will be the first one that we\u2019ve chosen and done up together, reflecting both our tastes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJonathan still has family in Leicester and he has lived in Uppingham before, but I had no experience of the area until we visited. We\u2019ve friends in the area now, but with each visit I quickly discovered that I really loved the place, from the stone houses and the chocolate box cottages in the Rutland villages, to the fact that the place is so quiet and generally lovely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause theatre tours are staged all over the country, and as they travel around, there\u2019s nowhere specific that I need to be based. I can live pretty much anywhere. Generally when I\u2019m with a production I\u2019m living in hotels anyway. But the area is already proving to have really good connections to London, and I think it\u2019s a really practical place to be based.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe property we\u2019ve found is in a really lovely location between Stamford and Uppingham, two houses connected with an atrium, with a three-storey turret, a lake and a river. It\u2019s a great property that has been improved over successive periods so it needs one concept, one idea to bring it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a long driveway to the property which is nice for privacy, but one of the things we\u2019re really looking forward to is being part of the village community. We\u2019ve already enjoyed shopping in Stamford and meeting the locals.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s probably that point which portrays Craig in his true light, and betrays his \u2018Mrs Nasty\u2019 image on the show. During our interview Craig was warm, funny, generous with his time and in every respect completely delightful, even amid the constant attention that Strictly has resulted in.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing recognised is something that you have to get used to. It really doesn\u2019t bother me and anonymity, I think, is something that you have to give up when you\u2019ve a public profile. People are generally polite enough to not interrupt half-way through a meal for example, so we\u2019re always happy to say hello. In fact, during Covid with fewer people around I\u2019ve gone from enjoying a bit of space to missing a bit of the interaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThings are busy at this time of year but by summer we\u2019ll be spending more time in the area enjoying the house. We\u2019re really keen cooks and we especially love seafood. Seafood lasagne is a signature dish with massive king prawns, and smoked haddock & cod in a white sauce\u2026 but we\u2019re looking forward to enjoying some trout from Rutland Water, too!\u201d<\/p>\n

With forecasters already suggesting that 2022 will see a particular long and hot summer, you might also see Craig enjoying top down motoring, given that his classic car is another favourite pursuit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI drive a Tesla which is a great daily driver, but in the summer my Triumph Stag comes out. It\u2019s finished in Old English White with Oxblood Red leather, and there\u2019s a 3.0V8 engine under the bonnet. I just love the shape, and it\u2019s a real treat to drive it on a summer afternoon. We\u2019ve toured around Cornwall in it for two weeks, which was lovely, but hopefully there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy driving it around Rutland too!\u201d<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Craig\u2019s first UK solo tour, is The All Balls And Glitter Tour, which arrives at The Cresset, Peterborough (01733 265705, www.cresset.co.uk), on Friday March 25th and then Curve, Leicester (0116 242 3595, www.curveonline.co.uk) on Sunday 1st May. The Strictly Live Tour runs throughout 2022, see strictlycomedancinglive.com.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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