Queen ‘would nail’ Strictly Come Dancing, says Craig Revel Horwood

The Queen would “nail” Strictly Come Dancing, judge Craig Revel Horwood has said.

Queen Camilla, 78, has made no secret of her love for the BBC dancing competition, even describing herself previously as “one of Strictly’s big fans”.

She is known to watch the show with the King, and last year told one of the show’s professional dancers that she had “always wanted to tap dance”.

On BBC Breakfast, Revel Horwood said the Queen is a “fantastic” dancer after they were paired for a dance at the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

“She loves dancing,” he said, adding: “She actually loves the show and I would love to see her on there because she would nail it, darling. She’s got fantastic rhythm.”

When the Queen met Johannes Radebe, a professional dancer on the show, last year, she revealed that she had once tried to do the cha-cha-cha with Revel Horwood. She said: “It was a dance I did a long time ago.”

Previously, there have been reports of the Queen approving to host an episode from Buckingham Palace, but these plans have since been put on ice.

In 2017, parts of Strictly’s Christmas Special were filmed at the royal residence after the Queen – then the Duchess of Cornwall – hosted a tea party there for the show’s celebrities and dancers as well as the National Osteoporosis Society.

The Queen, who watches Strictly with the King, said she had ‘always wanted to tap dance’ – Guy Levy/BBC

Revel Horwood’s comments come ahead of Strictly’s return to TV screens for its 23rd series, which begins on Saturday.

The show judge said Alex Kingston, the Doctor Who actress, Ross King, the entertainment reporter, and Dani Dyer-Brown, the reality TV star, were the ones to watch this year.

He said: “Ross – he’s fantastic, he’s bringing loads of energy. I have to say, this year on Strictly, the energy is beyond. The people themselves are hilarious. After seeing them very briefly, I think Dani Dyer – I think she is fantastic. I’m loving Alex – her humour is beyond, darling.

“As we know, you never know who’s going to win, because the general public decides, and that’s what it’s all about.”

Asked about whether he worries about being cancelled for being so brutally honest about the contestants’ dancing on the show, he said: “I don’t actually care. I’m up there to tell the truth and be honest about the one minute 30 (seconds) that I see.

“If people don’t like that, then lump it. The point I’m making is that, you know, that is my job.

“Am I worried about being cancelled? Not really. Yes, it’s of concern, but I don’t go into the whole realm of that. I think it’s stupid, absolutely stupid.

“I mean, if I can’t sit up there and say what I see, then there’s something wrong.”

The 23rd series of Strictly Come Dancing is set to air on Sept 20 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer – BBC

Kingston, the former ER star, recently revealed that she had been wanting to dance on Strictly for 20 years, but was deterred by the “stigma” surrounding the show for theatre actors.

The Bafta-nominated actress, 62, said she was forced to turn the show down in the past “because I do Shakespeare” but was finally allowed after “banging on” about it for two decades.

Kingston said: “It’s funny because I’ve been asked in the past and at that time, my agent always said, ‘No, you can’t do it, you can’t do it.’

“And now I think it’s just that I’ve got to a certain stage in my life where he’s like, ‘If you want to do it, Alex…’ because I’ve been wanting to do it for 20 years.”

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