Craig Revel Horwood claims dancing helped him forget ‘abuse at home’

The star discusses why he learnt to dance on his tour Revelation - Songs Boys Don’t Sing

Craig Revel Horwood on the set of Strictly Come Dancing (BBC/Guy Levy)

Craig Revel Horwood has alleged he was abused as a child.

The Strictly Come Dancing judge said dancing helped him cope.

Revel Horwood, 60, discusses his childhood and why he learnt to dance during his new UK tour Revelations – Songs Boys Don’t Sing.

Speaking to ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB), Revel Horwood also responded to comments he made about his fellow Strictly judges during his first show on the tour.

He said he was joking when he reportedly said: “There is no other judge. I created it. They are either dead or have been sacked.”

Craig Revel Horwood has been a Strictly judge for two decades (BBC/Guy Levy)

He said of the tour: “My father was an alcoholic. I do talk about that in the show because that led me towards the dancing.”

“And anyone at home I know that’s watching this that has dealt with alcoholism, it’s really, really tough, and we were abused as children, and my whole family was, and that was my only escape.

“And when I danced, it’s when I really came to life. I forgot all of the abuse at home, and it made me want to do something else with my life.

“And on my father’s death, I think that was when I actually realised that, after hating my father for so long, I then thought, actually he was a really good man he just had a terrible, terrible disease and it eventually killed him.”

Asked about the comments he made during his first show on April 4, he said: “What am I going to say? Who’s the best judge? Of course, I’m gonna say, me.”

He added: “I was having a little bit of fun”.

Revel Horwood appears as a judge on the popular BBC One dancing show alongside Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke.

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Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of Strictly in 2024, Horwood said: “I’ll tell you why I love it so much, is because every year it’s completely different.

“You change the cast and it’s a completely different show. You don’t know who you’re going to get and you don’t know where they’re going to lay within the realms of dance.

“And that’s what makes it interesting and exciting. It’s escapism.”

Revel Horwood’s tour follows on from the release of his debut solo album of the same name.

He is due to travel to cities and towns including Bath, Dundee, London, Liverpool and Swansea, ending his show in Dunfermline on June 28.