Craig Revel Horwood on Strictly Come Dancing (Image: Getty)
judge ‘s vicious insults have been coming thick and fast for two decades – and Express.co.uk has gathered together a few of his most memorable moments, on the day that he celebrates his 60th birthday.
He once seemed to compare 2023 contestant to a horse, after watching one dance routine with . “It felt a little bit like dressage, darling because your feet were coming up too much and turned out obviously,” he told her.
Craig’s fellow judge , on the other hand, was feeling fearful for her as he’d spotted that her eyes had “welled up” with tears during the performance and she appeared to have been holding her breath. He commented: “I was thinking, ‘Please breathe,'” before jokingly adding that he’d had the urge to storm the stage and “poke” her to take her out of the painful-looking emotional trance.
Audience members were less than impressed when Craig delivered his trademark caustic attitude, breaking into boos. However, they weren’t loud enough for catty Craig, who then turned on the audience, quipping: “If you lot can’t boo properly, then don’t bother.”
In response, they let out a deafening roar and Craig shot back: “Now I feel at home, darling!” Meanwhile, in 2024, while the nation fell in love with the efforts of Strictly’s first ever blind contestant, , Craig blasted his posture and bluntly issued the warning that there was “a lot of work to do”.
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Craig Revel Horwood has made his fair share of digs (Image: Getty)
The same year, he made an ill-judged blunder when he joked about recovering alcoholic having a drink for Dutch courage before the show.
The former footballer had begun the routine with a glass in his hand at a barbecue before launching into his dance moves, but an unimpressed Craig compared the “terrible” performance to a “comedy dance at a wedding”.
He added that he’d looked like his feet were “glued to the floor” as pro Karen Hauer danced around him, and – in a nod to the prop – quipped: “Obviously the drinks at the BBQ gave you the confidence to do that [terrible routine].”
Paul mumbled that he didn’t drink, in an awkward moment that had viewers taking to Twitter (X) demanding that Craig should apologise.
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Craig Revel Horwood insulted Shirley Ballas in the past, but they’ve since made up (Image: Getty)
His insults have even extended to his fellow judges, with him making derogatory comments about breasts – something he later issued an apology over, when she took offence.
He also said sorry to Anton du Beke after commenting on a historical routine which saw him take to the dancefloor with ‘ Emma Barton – and falsely suggesting that he was wearing “false teeth”.
The remorse didn’t last long, as last year he insulted him again, taunting: “You should tell your surgeon darling – it’s not working out for you!”
However, blind got his own back on Craig on one occasion, by quipping: “The beard doesn’t suit you – and even I know that!”
These are just a few of his more recent insults – and Craig has famously remarked that some of his past putdowns would have swiftly seen him “cancelled” in today’s more modern era.
Yet, like Simon Cowell, he’s now vowed to tone down the criticism.