Could it be that, after 20 years behind the judging desk, the 59-year-old has gone soft?
“I have changed my style of judging,” he admits. “I was really harsh 20 years ago. When I look back, I think, ‘Ooh, that’s cutting.’ It would now be classed as bullying, and then I’d be cancelled.”
But, he adds, his new, kinder persona has not come about because he’s afraid of causing a public outcry. “It’s not fear of being cancelled. It’s just, how can I reach out to them and help them to improve, rather than just saying, ‘This is wrong, that’s wrong.’ I’m thinking more like a teacher than a judge.
“If the standard is low, I really haven’t got anything to say except what’s wrong with it. But this series there’s been an awful lot that’s right with everything.
“They’re much more talented now than they used to be. Back then, we had snooker players and politicians, and it was pretty tough on people who couldn’t dance. I was very direct. I do still say what’s wrong, but you can wrap the truth in a nice way.”
In case you’re concerned that he has become too nice, Revel Horwood insists he still couldn’t care less if dancers are upset by his opinions. “I’m not there for their emotions. I don’t care how it affects them in that way, because they need to learn and respect my opinion.”
Nor does he care about any backlash from fans. In fact, he plans to write a book about the social media trolling he has received. “It will be hilarious. Over the years I’ve been keeping all these comments and so-called death threats from people who have five followers and no dance knowledge, and I’m going to shame them.
“I read these comments and think, ‘Wonderful, that’s a brilliant one for the book.’ I treat it all as a cartoon. They can’t even string a sentence together. I often reply and say, ‘Thanks for the opinion, but perhaps you would like to learn to spell before you tell me what you think, darling.'”
Not everybody is as thick-skinned as Revel Horwood. Duty of care towards contestants came under the spotlight earlier this year, leading to a new rule that means a chaperone must now be present in all rehearsal rooms, and there has been much debate about teaching standards on the show.
What does Strictly’s toughest judge think of the furore? “Things have to change. These dancers are world champions – they’ve been taught properly to win, and the only way you’re going to achieve that is by someone driving you. That’s embedded in their DNA. You can’t just change that overnight.
“That’s very different to a celebrity who’s a novice coming in. Celebrities are sensitive because they’re in the public domain. They’ve got reputations to protect and don’t want to be seen looking stupid.
“So it’s about having someone there in the room and guarding both the celebrity and the professional, and also encouraging the fact that it should be fun. They still need to be pushed, because we can’t get away from the fact that dancing is hard, but it’s a light entertainment programme as well.”
Of course, Revel Horwood knows the heart of Strictly better than most. He’s the only remaining judge from the original line-up of Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Arlene Phillips.
Apparently, Phillips and Tonioli still watch Strictly – but Revel Horwood rarely talks about the show with them, as they’re always too busy gossiping.
“I see them quite a lot and they both watch it. I often see Bruno at his house – he cooks a great chicken. He’s obviously hopelessly involved in Britain’s Got Talent now and his thing is about pushing gold buzzers or whatever, and he does the American dancing show.”
He adds that Goodman, who died in April 2023, would have “loved” Paul Merson, Chris McCausland and Wynne Evans this year. “He’d have loved the banter, because that’s like the old days when the celebs had a bit of a laugh.”
Who has Revel Horwood most enjoyed watching in the past two decades? “Mark Ramprakash [who won series four] was always terrible in rehearsal,” he reflects. “Poor Karen Hardy would say, ‘I don’t know how we’re going to get through this,’ then he’d come on live and go ‘Boom!’ and fly across the dancefloor. We never knew where it came from.
“I suppose he needed the pressure of a live audience. That must be to do with him being a top-level cricketer.”
The show will be back this Christmas with its traditional end-of-the-year outing and a 20th-anniversary documentary. Revel Horwood says he will be sitting down to watch them amid his “very traditional” Christmas, watching the king’s speech and eating a roast turkey dinner.
His Christmas wish? That one day, he’ll get to choose who appears on the festive edition. “Simon Cowell would be the dream,” he says. “But if I could choose someone to dance with personally, I’d love to dance with Queen Camilla.”
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