Born in Australia, Craig Revel Horwood, 53, has worked as a dancer, director and choreographer, and since 2004 has been a judge on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. This Christmas, he plays the wicked stepmother in Cinderella at the New Victoria Theatre, Woking, and next April he reprises the role of Miss Hannigan in a UK tour of Annie. The third instalment of his autobiography, In Strictest Confidence, has just been published. He lives in Hampshire with his partner, horticulturalist Jonathan Myring.
When were you happiest?
When I got my first professional dance job: West Side Story in Melbourne in 1983.
What is your greatest fear?
Heights. I tried to overcome it by skydiving. It didn’t work.
What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
I’m a workaholic.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Laziness.
What was your most embarrassing moment?
My tights split while I was tap dancing in the West End in 1993. I was left in a thong.
What would your super power be?
Invisibility – I could swim naked at any beach I wanted.
What do you most dislike about your appearance?
My ears are too big.
Who would play you in the film of your life?
Johnny Depp.
What does love feel like?
A duvet.
What was the best kiss of your life?
The least expected one. I’m thinking of several – one was in New Zealand in a Jacuzzi a hundred years ago.
What is your most unappealing habit?
Talking in my sleep.
What is your favourite word?
Mellifluous.
What is the worst job you’ve done?
Potato-picking in my home town, Ballarat.
When did you last cry, and why?
At my friend Billy’s funeral last month. He died suddenly in his sleep and was only 61.
Which book changed your life?
The Thorn Birds, by Colleen McCullough, because it’s the first book I read from cover to cover and properly understood. I couldn’t put it down.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A chef.
What is the worst thing anyone’s said to you?
When I was opening my first bank account, the person at the counter thought I was a girl.
What is top of your bucket list?
A visit to Japan.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Pepperoni pizza.
What do you owe your parents?
Unconditional love. My dad was an abusive alcoholic and then died. It was a difficult thing to choose to love or hate, to remember the nasty him or the good times and the father I wanted him to be, so I decided to remember the sober dad.
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Dancing Queen, by Abba.
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