Craig Revel Horwood has been on BBC TV’s Strictly Come Dancing since 2004, and is now the longest-serving judge on the show. The 59-year-old started his career after leaving home at 15, and, after a short-lived period as an apprentice chef, he got a job at a TV station as a trainee cameraman.
When he was 16, an older colleague in his 40s began to pursue him and proposed a deal. He would pay for dance classes for the budding star, as well as taking him away for six weeks – which would include going to shows in London and New York – in return for a sexual relationship.
(Image: PA)
Speaking of the encounter in his 2009 memoir, Craig wrote that it was “a business arrangement”. He revealed that at the age of 17, it was something he felt in control of. Speaking further on the relationship with The Guardian in 2023, Craig said: “I didn’t feel it was wrong. For me, it was a relationship in that way. It wasn’t rent on the corner of the street. It was a sugar daddy relationship, simple as.”
Asked if it feels exploitative in hindsight, the Strictly judge admitted: “No. I got something from it and he got something from it, and then we went our separate ways.” Craig then went on to explain that “it could have been worse,” and says the relationship wasn’t abusive in any way.
“He was supportive of everything I was doing, dance-wise, and getting me through difficult times. Someone I could talk to – so for me, it was a learning experience, it taught me a lot and it wasn’t abusive in any way.”
(Image: Getty Images for the National Lo)
The star then went on to explain that the shows he saw at the time changed his life. Seeing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats in London, and then on Broadway, cemented his dream to become a professional performer.
Craig then landed his his first big professional job when he got casted in West Side Story in Melbourne in 1983. He later moved to London to pursue a career in the West End, and it kept on growing.
In his personal life, Craig has been engaged to his partner, Jonathan Myring – who is 20 years his junior – since April 2020 after meeting him on the Strictly tour in 2018.
View news Source: https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/strictly-star-sexual-relationship-17-34201053
