CRAIG: I HATE MY PESTERING FANS

‘Pushing & shoving’ a pain for selfie-conscious star

CRAIG Revel Horwood says he hates being pestered by fans.

Judging on Strictly has made him one of TV’s biggest names and people regularly ask him for selfies and autographs.

But Craig has given them a lashing with his famous acid tongue in a sensational rant.

The 52-year-old said: “When it comes to the ‘celebrity’ thing I still find that difficult in the street.

“The pushing and shoving in supermarkets is not so good…and having to sign people’s receipts as they have got nothing else on them.

“And the constant selfies is a bit demanding. You do get used to it but I can’t see any reason to be a celebrity except for the fact you can raise money for charity. So celebrity has that benefit – it gives you a platform on which to speak about things, and that is cool.”

On the Strictly panel Craig is known for his withering put-downs and often dishes out lower scores than the other judges.

But he is convinced he is doing the contestants a favour by being mean.

Craig said: “I am there to judge… not to shower them with love and kisses. It’s so they can become better dancers.

“Imagine if you are an Olympic champion and you’re going for gold and your coach says, ‘Darling, don’t bother warming up – you’ll be alright on the night’. You’d want feedback. I am in a business where I am criticised daily, and criticism is worth its weight in gold.

“I find it’s generally the actors who break down in floods of tears because they are being told their left foot is wobbly.”

Craig has been a judge since Strictly began in 2004.

His Mr Nasty persona has helped it become TV’s biggest show – with 12million viewers tuning in.

He said: “Len Goodman and I had a chat about it after the first week of the first series and I said ‘I will give this three weeks, darling’. We could not see a future in it.

“We thought ‘who would want to see a bunch of celebrities – no hopers – trying to dance when it has taken us all our lives to learn?’

“But it captured the hearts and minds of the nation.”