Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood addresses future on BBC show as he plans wedding

Craig Revel Horwood has been an acid-tongued judge on Strictly Come Dancing for two decades. While he is well known for the damning verdicts he delivers to celebrity contestants, he admitted he'd "softened up a bit" over the years.

The choreographer was 39 when he joined the judging panel, sitting next to the late Len Goodman, Arlene Phillips and Bruno Tonioli. Now, on the cusp of his 60th birthday, he's the only one out of the four remaining - not that he plans to go anywhere, unless he's "cancelled".

He told the Mirror the panto villain role he’s held onto for the 20 years was "a fantastic Saturday job" that he had "no intention of quitting". Craig said he planned to be on the show when he's in his eighties, as long as he's "still compos mentis" and "hasn't been cancelled before then".

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Craig continued: "But what would I do if I weren’t doing it? Remain a director - I love directing musicals, I would love to direct TV and film. I have choreographed movies like Paddington 2, for instance, which I really loved .I’m not just going to retire and just weed the garden.”

He continued: "I haven’t changed - I have softened up a bit but I suppose the dancing has gotten a lot better. When we first started 20 years ago, of course the dancing wasn’t particularly good at all.”

Craig, who has received Olivier nominations and penned three autobiographies during his career, also gave some insight onto his wedding plans. Jonathan Myring, a horticulturist, who is 22 years Craig's junior, proposed in 2020 as they sipped on champagne in a salt bath during a trip to a national park.

But their wedding has been hampered by delays, Craig said: “After Covid we could not get anything! Now it keeps being put off because of drainage and things with the house. It sounds ridiculous but we want to get married in the garden.

"Councils, highways - I don’t know why it takes so long in this country to get anything done. That’s one thing that’s going to happen in the next 10 years and that’s now pencilled in for the 20th August 2027. Which isn’t that long if you think about it because I’m working all of next year.