BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood addresses 'bullying' and says 'I have changed'

BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Craig Revel Horwood has admitted to softening his sharp tongue. The judge said he had concerns that his old style of critiquing contestants on the BBC show may have put him at risk of being 'cancelled'.

The Australian dancer is the only original judge on the popular programme. Reflecting on his time on the show, Craig admitted his approach may have been seen as 'bullying'.

But he said he has now tweaked his judging style and thinks 'more like a teacher than a judge'. He told Radio Times: "I have changed my style of judging. I was really harsh 20 years ago. When I look back, I think "oh, that’s cutting".

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The 59-year-old added: "It would now be classed as bullying, and then I’d be cancelled." Craig went on to say he 'used to be very direct' but now tries to 'wrap the truth in a nice way'.

Recently, some contestants have shared their negative experiences of starring on the iconic BBC One dance show. Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington made complaints about her 2023 professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice – who has always denied allegations.

The BBC apologised to Amanda after they assessed the complaints and upheld some, but not all. Changes have since been brought in, such as having chaperones during rehearsals, OK! reports.

Craig said: "Things have to change. These dancers are world champions – they’ve been taught properly to win, and the only way you’re going to achieve that is by someone driving you. That’s embedded in their DNA, you can’t just change that overnight.

"That’s very different to a celebrity who’s a novice coming in. Celebrities are sensitive because they’re in the public domain. They’ve got reputations to protect and don’t want to be seen looking stupid.

"So it’s about having someone there in the room and guarding both the celebrity and the professional, and also encouraging the fact that it should be fun. They still need to be pushed, because we can’t get away from the fact that dancing is hard, but it’s a light entertainment programme as well."