11 September 2023 , 14:12
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Craig Revel Horwood has admitted he was 'completely homophobic' when he was younger after being taunted by schoolmates for his love of the performance arts.
The Strictly Come Dancing judge has been openly gay since 1992, when he split from his ex-wife Jane Horwood after just two years of marriage and fell in love with a man. He has since spoken out in support of LGBTQ+ rights on multiple occasions, and has largely been credited for pushing BBC One bosses to create the reality dancing series' first same-sex couple.
"You only have to decide who’s going to go backwards. In the world of competitions, there are same sex couples that do it as well so there is no reason that can’t happen," the 58-year-old said in 2017. "The Beeb just have to decide if it’s something they want to do."
However, Craig hadn't always felt so comfortable with his sexuality. In a new interview, the Australian-born choreographer admitted to experiencing shame after being bullied at school for his love of subjects considered unsuitable for boys.
Craig admits he was left 'homophobic' after being bullied at school (PA)"You’d be called a ‘pansy’, a ‘poofter’, [by classmates] everything under the sun," he told the Guardian in September 2023. "Even me just doing home economics instead of woodwork was frowned on because I was quite effeminate – not that I knew I was, but I liked the recorder and I hated sport."
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The bullying left him "completely homophobic", and it wouldn't be until he entered the theatre world that this self-hatred began to simmer.
"The people there were lovely, and people started praising me," he explained. "They were older and accepting, and I loved it. I liked those people, and I knew I didn’t like people at school. I was traumatised at school, but dance released that." Craig has also spoken in the past about developing an eating disorder after being relentlessly bullied for his looks at his first co-ed school.
Craig Revel Horwood with his fellow Strictly judges, Anton du Beke; Shirley Ballas; Motsi Mabuse (BBC/Ray Burmiston)"I was quite pretty as a kid, I had long black eyelashes. Everyone said I was wearing mascara. It was just awful," he said on The Black Farmer podcast last month, before detailing how he would be physically targeted by his peers outside of the classroom.
"They'd block the corridors and push me about. They wouldn't let me get to my lock. It was really bad," he added.
Craig was married to Jane Horwood from 1990 to 1992, but the couple split after she allegedly cheated on him.
Speaking about his relationship with his Welsh ex in his 2011 memoir, the reality TV icon revealed that she "had in fact thought I was gay for a long time" before their separation. Since 2020, Craig has been engaged to horticulturist, Jonathan Myring. He first met the gardening expert, who is 22 years his junior, on Tinder in 2018. Today, the powerhouse couple live together in Craig's lavish Hampshire mansion and are currently in the process of planning their postponed wedding.