Craig Revel Horwood on ‘hard life’ as he goes up against teen dancers

Craig Revel Horwood, 58, has long enjoyed an enormously successful career in show business as a dancer, choreographer and conductor.

However, the Strictly Come Dancing judge has revealed he once was keen to enjoy an early retirement as dancing can be a “very difficult profession”.

Admitting he was “looking forward” to retiring at 50 when he was younger, Craig explained: “Dancing is a very difficult profession, a hard life.

“And like sportspeople it becomes quite tiring by the time you’re 30 and then you’re dancing up against 16 and 17-year-olds, and their legs are going higher, faster and stronger than you’ll ever be at 30.

“I mean, I felt like their father when I was auditioning, and I just thought, ‘This is crazy’.”

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Craig told Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast: “And I think that sort of sets you off onto the path of, ‘OK, what to do next after the body fails?’”

But despite his reflection, Craig continues to delight fans with stage performances, including his latest venture, Annie The Musical.

Earlier this week, Craig is said to have dedicated every Annie performance to the late Paul O’Grady, a week after his death.

The star reportedly paid homage to his co-star in an emotional moment during his first show back as Miss Hannigan – a role he had shared with Paul.

In a touching tribute to the late comedian and TV presenter, Craig “dedicated this and every performance” to him on Monday.

Audience member David Jack said: “After the final bows, Craig Revel Horwood addressed the audience and said they would like to dedicate this and every performance to the legend Paul O’Grady.

“There were people in the audience in tears and shouts of, ‘We love you, Paul!’, some of the cast looked emotional but the performance under the circumstances was outstanding, especially from the young cast.”

He went on to reveal Craig was “choking up” as he struggled to contain his emotion during his tribute.

The audience member added to Metro.co.uk: “You could see him choking up while saying what he did. I think he found it difficult to say anything due to his emotion.”