Strictly splits are a blessing, not a curse, insists show judge Craig
THE notorious “curse” of Strictly Come Dancing is really a blessing because it kills off failing relationships, according to Craig Revel-horwood.
The show’s outspoken judge offered his verdict after controversy around comedian Seann Walsh and his professional partner, Katya Jones, overshadowed the competition this week.
After the pair were photographed kissing, Walsh’s girlfriend left him, although Jones’s husband Neil, a fellow dancer, is sticking by her.
Speaking of the curse on ITV’S The Jonathan Ross Show, Revel-horwood said: “I think of it as a blessing, actually.
“If you come on Strictly, sometimes you are in a relationship that is not working anyway. And people, I have noticed, if they are in love or are married, end up being absolutely faithful to one another because of that love.
“You’re up close and personal with that person – but there has to be something wrong in your relationship before it all goes awry.”
Revel-horwood appeared on the chat show alongside his fellow Strictly judges Dame Darcey Bussell and Shirley Ballas.
Dame Darcey said: “I danced for over 20 years in the Royal Ballet and I’m still happily married.”
Revel-horwood said Strictly was like any other working environment, adding: “It’s only because it’s public.
“If you were at your Christmas party and you snogged the boss, you’d still have to do the ‘walk of shame’ on the Monday, wouldn’t you? This happens in every walk of life.”
Asked if the decision to keep the pair on the show was the right one, Revelhorwood said: “My take was: keep them in, make them do the dance of shame. It’s really important that if this does happen to you, you face up to it.”
Bookmakers have made Walsh and Jones favourites to be voted off this weekend but Ballas, the head judge, said: “I would like to think that they [the public] judge the dancing and not the relationship or anything else.”
Revel-horwood also told of one odd reaction to his acidic persona. He said: “A lady came up, about 80 or 85, and said, ‘Are you that Craig Revel-horwood from the telly?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and she smacked me across the face. And then she went, ‘Don’t change, darling.’”