Entertainment
Craig Revel Horwood hopes Anton Du Beke will stay on as Strictly Come Dancing judge: ‘Long may it continue’
The pair talk their ‘good cop, bad cop’ relationship (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
Craig Revel Horwood has spoken about Anton Du Beke’s stint as judge on Strictly Come Dancing, saying he’s a ‘great addition’ to the panel.
Anton was brought on after Bruno Tonioli stood down from the role after Covid restrictions made it impossible to appear on both the BBC show and Dancing With The Stars. It’s not yet clear whether or not he’ll be back on the panel next year.
Craig said he enjoyed playing ‘good cop, bad cop’ on the programme, with the longstanding judge saying ‘long may it continue.’
Speaking to Best magazine, the 56-year-old said: ‘Anton’s a great addition, he knows the process of working with celebrities inside-out, he’s been there.
‘Particularly with celebs that haven’t been ‘gifted’, he’s had to manoeuvre them around that dancefloor – and he’s been with great dancers, where he could show off his talents.’
Craig added: ‘Armed with all that information, he’s showing great empathy for the celebs – he’s more lenient than me. And he’s funny. Long may it continue, he’s a good egg, Anton.’
What will the panel look like next year? (Picture: PA)
‘We’re topping and tailing the ladies on the panel, poor things – except we’re about five metres apart, plus there are Perspex screens! We have to lean forward to chat to each other, but that just adds to the fun.’
He went on to say: ‘You can say, “Sorry, Anton, I didn’t hear a word you said, darling…” We do love to play Good Cop, Bad Cop.’’
Anton was promoted to the judging panel for the 2021 series (Picture: BBC)
Craig and Anton have a tough job to do this weekend, when picking the winner as one of the strongest ever years of Strictly Come Dancing is coming to a close on Saturday.
More: Strictly Come Dancing
John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington, and Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice will take to the dancefloor in the last episode of the series.
They take to the ballroom for the last time this weekend, after Rhys Stephenson narrowly missed out on a place in the finale on Sunday.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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