Craig Revel Horwood ‘shocked’ by allegations of misconduct towards Strictly Come Dancing professionals

Craig Revel Horwood has said allegations of abusive behaviour by Strictly Come Dancing staff came as a “shock” to him.

The 59-year-old choreographer and his fellow judges – Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke – are kept “very, very apart” from the contestants on the BBC’s Latin and ballroom dancing competition, so had no idea of ​​the alleged misconduct until allegations were made in the media and people including Amanda Abbington and Zara McDermott spoke publicly about their experiences.

He told BBC Radio Wales: “I just found out (about the allegations), like everyone else, through the press.

“For me it’s a shock and news because judges are never present at any class. We literally come on a Saturday and we just judge what we see in front of us.

“So we’re very, very separate from the rest of the company.

“For us, it’s complete news. Every day when I read something, I say to myself: ‘This is impossible,’ so I wait to see what happens with the investigations, but we have nothing to do with that.”

But Craig insisted he was not worried about the future of Strictly after Graziano Di Prima was fired from the show after allegedly being violent towards Zara, while Amanda and others complained about Giovanni Pernice’s teaching methods.

When asked if he was worried about the future of the show, he said: “I don’t think so, because it’s one of those shows that belongs to the hearts of people who are at home and love to dance, and there’s nothing better than seeing someone come from nothing, work hard and become absolutely phenomenal.”

The BBC has pledged to make changes to “strengthen wellbeing and support” on the show, including introducing chaperones during rehearsals.

And Craig welcomes the decision.

He said: “When I was in the musical ‘Annie’, we had chaperones everywhere, because of the kids and the laws and all that kind of stuff.

“And I noticed that in the theater world, we have chaperones and people we can talk to if you’re having a bad day.

“We have psychologists on shows now and all that, so I think it’s just a normal evolution of what’s happening in life now. I think it’s good to have that.”