Craig Revel Horwood 'set to quit' as crying Strictly appearance explained
He's known for being the panto villain, so Craig Revel Horwood's emotional appearance during Saturday night's final left Strictly fans surprised.
After welling up on the show as he offered critique to this year's finalists, he took to social media to congratulate the BBC show on "one of the most amazing finals I've had the pleasure of watching". He continued: "Thank you Strictly for being fab u lous and keeping us all entertained throughout the Christmas season. Happy Christmas everyone. Have a wonderful holiday season and may the new year bring you many incredible memories and adventures!"
But body language expert Judi James tells us that his tearful comments and sudden display of softer emotions are telling that something else could be afoot. Being the only original judge who has starred on the show since 2004, Craig could be readying himself for a departure that is sure to leave fans utterly gutted...
We need to talk about Craig and his body language during the Strictly final. His sudden display of softer emotions and even appearing to have been overwhelmed by those emotions was not actually out of character for Craig in terms of his real personality. What was out of character was that he chose to reveal them on live TV for a good half of the show.
Craig Revel Horwood had to be comforted during the 2023 Strictly final (BBC)
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Craig plays the panto villain but he is really one of the nicest guys. His normal poker face and cutting comments are one reason the show is so successful. Even with the ‘villainous’ delivery his analysis is often the most honest and revealing of all the judges.
Last night though Craig was openly tearful and overwhelmed at times. Tears might flow like Niagara on Strictly but Craig’s were authentic and fans are right to wonder what was prompting them.
His verbal messages gave clues that he was being nostalgic and sentimental. He said he’d been thinking back to the first show and how far it had progressed, which can imply someone is leaving a show, taking one final look back and seeing it as a whole, rather than as ongoing.
He teared up over Ellie’s dance but it was his ‘How far this programme has come’ that seemed to be the root cause of his sadness. His eyes became red and wet and his voice broke. He began to ramble a bit rather than using his signature concise style and there were some heavy swallows to show he was suppressing real tears.
It was the reactions of the others though that really showed how strong and shocking his emotions were. Vito’s chin went up in a gesture or surprise and curiosity and Ellie and Tess watched with expressions of shock. The other three judges all look and smiled but Motsi, who seems the closest friend to Craig, stretched an arm out to offer a consoling squeeze of his shoulder.
Craig’s tearfulness continued through the rest of the show, proving it wasn’t just a performance for effect. His eyes were still wet when he told Bobby he was ‘brilliant’ and his ‘Joy joy joy’ came with a chopping gesture that looked final.
By Ellie’s last dance Craig was becoming verbally cryptic. He turned his pen in his hand in a self-comfort ritual and he pursed his lips in a gesture of emotional self-control before saying, oddly, ‘This is the last time I will get to speak to you’ and sucking his lips in.
By the end he was just clapping rather than speaking, which is a rare move for a judge during the millions-of-viewers finale show. Hopefully he wasn’t dropping hints about it being his last show. Strictly just won’t be the same without Craig.
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