Strictly Come Dancing Live: Craig Revel Horwood speaks ahead of Birmingham show
He's the pantomime villain that people love to hate. Except they don't, really. Because underneath the acid comments, Craig Revel Horwood is really just a pussy cat.
And, for him, the best part of Strictly Live is getting to spend time with people he's been criticising for months on live TV.
"We always have a laugh doing it. And it's a really good time for judges to get to know people. We're very much separate from the dancers when the TV show is made. And it's really nice to spend time with them rather than just bumping into them in corridors or slating them on the TV show. We get to appreciate that they are human beings and they do have nice personalities and are not just objects that need to be criticised."
Craig is the mastermind behind the Strictly Live experience and is planning the biggest and best show ever for 2017.
And he's looking forward to opening it in Birmingham, where he appeared in Annie at the Hippodrome.
"I love Birmingham because it has such good shopping. We love opening there. I loved doing Annie in Birmingham and I might be reprising it in the West End in 2018. It would be great. I love it."
Craig has other work lined up as soon as he's finished his Strictly tour. "I'm doing a Who Do They Think You Are immediately after this, so they must have found something interesting or something wonderful from my past."
Craig is looking forward to teaming up with Len again on the tour – and has high hopes for the new judge who will replace him on the 2017 TV show. "It needs to be an expert in ballroom and Latin. As long as they can speak clearly and precisely and get their point across in 10 seconds.
Being a judge on Strictly is much tougher than anyone thinks. Everyone who has come and done it has failed initially.
It's a lot more difficult than one might think.
"It doesn't need to be a Mr Nice. It could be someone that we don't even know."
Craig will team up with Len and Karen Hardy on the road and he's looking forward to it: "God, she's very mouthy. Once she starts she doesn't stop. But we have a lot of fun on the road because there's not the same amount of pressure as on TV."
