Craig Revel Horwood

Craig Revel Horwood is an Australian-British dancer, choreographer, theatre director, TV personality, author, and former drag queen. Born on 4 January 1965 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, he began his career as a dancer in Melbourne before moving to London in 1989 to pursue competitive dancing and professional opportunities. He became a British citizen on 20 August 2011. Horwood is widely recognized for his work as a judge on the BBC dancing competition series Strictly Come Dancing, serving as the show's longest-serving and only remaining original judge since its inception in 2004. He has also judged regional variants of the franchise, including Dancing with the Stars in New Zealand and Australia, as well as Comic Relief Does Fame Academy. His additional television credits include competing on Celebrity MasterChef, winning Maestro at the Opera, co-starring in Craig and Bruno's Great British Roadtrip, appearing on The Masked Dancer, and voicing Cornelius in the animated series Sadie Sparks. In theatre, Horwood has extensively directed and choreographed productions across the UK and internationally. He earned nominations for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Theatre Choreographer for his work on Spend Spend Spend (1999–2000) and My One and Only (2001–2002). His other West End, regional, and touring credits include associate directing and choreographing West Side Story, resident directing Miss Saigon, and directing or choreographing productions of Sunset Boulevard, Chess, Sister Act, Son of a Preacher Man, and Strictly Ballroom the Musical. He has also staged special events such as the opening ceremonies of the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. As an actor and performer, Horwood has taken on prominent stage roles, including starring as Miss Hannigan in UK tours and West End runs of Annie, and playing the Wicked Witch of the West in a 2024 UK tour of The Wizard of Oz. He regularly performs in annual UK pantomime productions, portraying characters such as Captain Hook in Peter Pan, the Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and the Wicked Stepmother in Cinderella. On screen, he choreographed the finale of Paddington 2 (2017) and made his film acting debut in Nativity Rocks! (2018). Horwood has also pursued projects in literature and music. He has authored three autobiographies—All Balls and Glitter (2008), Tales from the Dance Floor (2013), and In Strictest Confidence (2018)—along with his 2020 novel, Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street. In music, he released a Christmas single with Rietta Austin in 2021 and released his debut solo album, Revelations, Songs Boys Don't Sing, in 2024, which he promoted through a UK solo tour.