Craig Revel Horwood wants to be a Strictly judge into old age: 'I've not been cancelled yet...'

Craig Revel Horwood wants to be a 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge into old age.

The 59-year-old star was an illustrious dancer in West End musicals before finding widespread fame on the panel of the long-running BBC Latin and ballroom show upon its inception in 2004 and joked that because he hasn't been "cancelled" yet, he has every intention of sticking round.

He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "No, I haven’t changed - I have softened up a bit but I suppose the dancing has gotten a lot better. When we first started 20 years ago, of course the dancing wasn’t particularly good at all.

"I have no intention of quitting because it’s a fantastic Saturday job that I intend to do into my 80s, as long as I’m still compos mentis, darling!

"And if I haven’t been cancelled before then! But what would I do if I weren’t doing it? Remain a director - I love directing musicals, I would love to direct TV and film. I have choreographed movies like 'Paddington 2', for instance, which I really loved.I’m not just going to retire and just weed the garden."

Craig also thinks that the industry has become harder for up-and-coming talent in recent years thanks to the world of reality television, which has seen everyday folk attend auditions for shows such as 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor' and find success.

He said: "I think it’s got a lot more difficult because there’s a lot more people wanting to do it and there’s a lot more theatre schools out there. And with the advent of things like The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, all of those shows, people think that they can become an overnight success really quickly from going on a TV programme. But there’s downfalls to that as well - overnight stardom is not an easy thing. I’ve worked up the ranks like most people do - start out singing and dancing and acting, training and then you hope after three years of training you might get an audition and you might get successful. But there are downfalls as well - you’re not going to get every single job. As soon as you walk through the door, you’re being judged for how tall you are and whether you’re going to suit that part or that ensemble.

“You never really know when you’re up for a job what you’re going to get, you never really know what is going to happen. But you have to be able to collect yourself. If you do fall from grace, you need to be able to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get on with it. My advice to people now is don’t expect everything from the industry - you have to create it and you have to be in the right place at the right time.”