Craig Revel Horwood has shared his thoughts on the latest changes happening on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing. The TV judge welcomed the contestants having chaperones in the room with them while rehearsing, after a number of professional dancers on the BBC show were accused of "bullying" behaviour.
Speaking about his role on Strictly, the longest-serving judge appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain, chatting to Adil Ray and Charlotte Hawkins. He said: "It's like the best Saturday job ever, I absolutely love it. I get a front row seat to a fantastic show and to me it's irreplaceable."
Charlotte chimed in as she asked: "It's been in the spotlight recently though, hasn't it? For treatment of contestants, what's been going on and changes have been put in place so you have chaperones now.
"Is that system working? Are you confident that contestants will be happy with the set up and how it is all running?"
Craig replied: "It seems to be working and we had that in the theatre all the time, we had chaperones. They are put in place there to look after people, if you have a problem or if there is something that doesn't feel quite right, then you can go to someone. And they're someone to actually witness and go through. I think it's working really well."
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He went on to say that he was "shocked" when all of the allegations about the show's professionals came to light. The judge added: "I was pleased that the BBC did an investigation and I was pleased to actually hear the result of that.
"Because, when it's speculated upon you really don't know where to go and then the stories start flying wildly around. I just wanted to wait until the investigation and report was done and of course, that feels like a weight off my shoulders."
Craig added that they should be "celebrating" the show as families have enjoyed it for many years. He added: "It brings communities together, and I think people forget that."
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Strictly Come Dancing introduced "chaperones" for celeb contestants to avoid any issues between them and their pro partners. The reports come after Graziano di Prima was sacked for "gross misconduct" following his behaviour towards Zara McDermott, including alleged kicking, hitting and spitting at her.
Prior to the Graziano scandal, Giovanni Pernice was in the firing line after his 2023 partner Amanda Abbington accused him of having a "harsh" approach to training.
As a result the BBC show took steps to "toughen up" the duty of care protocols, including introducing chaperones to help keep everyone safer and more comfortable.
