04 May 2023 , 11:36
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Craig Revel Horwood reminisced about his late friends Paul O'Grady and Len Goodman during an appearance on This Morning.
The Strictly Come Dancing star appeared on the talk show to promote his stint as Miss Hannigan in the theatre production of Annie.
He replaced Paul in the role following the sudden death of the comedian and presenter in March who sadly passed away at the age 67.
Craig shared the role of Miss Hannigan with Paul and was shocked to hear about his death after only recently seeing him.
"No one could really believe it because he said I'll see you all in Southampton and then and then when I turned up for my week, we then of course dedicated all the performances to Paul," he began.
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Craig paid tribute to Paul and Len"It was a shock for the company, a shock for all of us and we didn't sort of know what was going to happen. But we had to get on with the show and as they say, 'the show must go on'."
Craig continued: "Yeah. And we got on with it but it was a really emotional Monday. It was just really hard to breathe. It was really hard to get through because we were just always in that state of panic and shock."
As Craig also knew Strictly Come Dancing legend Len Goodman, he went on to discuss the late judge's death.
He appeared on This Morning to promote Annie (PA)
Craig said it was a double whammy losing both stars (S Meddle/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)At the end of April, Len died at the age of 78 from bone cancer.
The late star, who was part of Strictly until 2016, had been residing in a hospice in Tunbridge Wells in Kent before passing away.
He said it was a "double whammy" losing Paul and Len and went on to reminisce about when he first joined Strictly.
Craig replaced Paul as Miss Hannigan (ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Craig said Len will 'live inside his heart' (Jonathan Hordle/REX/Shutterstock)Craig said: "He was brilliant fun. I mean, I will miss him. But the thing is, like Brucey [Forsyth], he will live inside me and every time I hear the words seven, that will always ring in my head and in my heart.
"My love, of course, goes out to his wonderful wife, Sue and his family who were absolutely wonderful because I knew nothing. I didn't even know he was ill. So it was a huge shock for me and I know he wanted to keep it quiet as well.
"He [was a] brilliant, brilliant man who brought ballroom back to the world which was fantastic."