Strictly’s Craig Revel Horwood likened to TV icon after image transformation

Strictly Come Dancing viewers had to do a double take when they first caught a glimpse of Craig Revel Horwood in tonight’s launch show.

In fact, they thought he was someone else.

The BBC series shimmied its way back onto our screens this weekend for a 20th-anniversary season, as did judges Craig, Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse, and Anton Du Beke.

Jamie Borthwick, Shayne Ward, Tasha Ghouri, Pete Wicks, Chris McCausland, Sam Quek, Toyah Willcox, Wynne Evans, and more are all part of the cast as a whole new line-up of celebrities compete for the glitterball trophy – while taking on feedback from the unpredictable panel.

Strictly is known for giving its stars makeovers, dousing them in fake tan, sequins, and sparkles, but it was Craig who rocked a different appearance when he returned to his seat behind the table for another stint as Mr Nasty.

Craig, 59, always looks perfectly polished and sports an impressive quiff, however, audiences aren’t used to seeing him with a beard.

Debuting his new facial hair, the Australian-British choreographer was dapper in a black suit and bow tie, teamed with a crisp white shirt.

Even host Tess Daly pointed it out, saying: ‘Craig, I am loving the new look! Very nice!’

Taking to X to comment on Craig’s beard, audiences noted how similar he looks to the expertly groomed Rylan Clark.

SuzeHopper1 tweeted: ‘I think Craig actually suits the beard. I’m probably gonna keep getting him and Rylan mixed up though’.

‘Oh, has Rylan replaced Craig on the judging panel?’, asked JackieA954

‘Omg Craig has gone all Rylan !’, wrote debsuffolk, while AmandaL08485312 agreed: ‘Craig looks like he’s cosplaying Rylan with that beard’.

User taylorwthelays complimented the divisive judge for ‘rocking’ the beard and a stunned SophieSharpie exclaimed that he looks ‘brand new’.

Giovanni Pernice was axed as a professional after 2023 star Amanda Abbington accused him of ‘toxic’ and ‘cruel’ behaviour, while Graziano Di Prima allegedly kicked Zara McDermott in rehearsals.

Both Italian dancers have denied the allegations against them which prompted an internal investigation by the BBC, with findings yet to be published.

Chaperones have also been introduced to monitor training, as well as welfare staff.

Craig admitted that the accusations were a ‘shock’ to him, revealing he found out ‘like everybody else’ as he read the press.

‘For me, it’s a shock, and news to me, because the judges are never present at any of the teaching, we literally come in on a Saturday and just judge what we see before us,’ he told BBC Radio Wales.

‘For us, it’s complete news. Every day that I read about something I think “That can’t be right”.’

He then emphasised that he had ‘nothing to do’ with the accusations: ‘I’ll wait and see what happens with the investigations, but certainly we have nothing to do with that.’

Craig, famous for giving celebs a tongue-lashing and low scores after their performances, later insisted that the pros have to be ‘strict’ in practice.

‘I hope the standards don’t drop this year,’ he said.

‘When I’m teaching casts for shows in rehearsals, I still have to be quite strict. I think you have to be.

He continued: ‘As far as saying, “Oh, that was really bad, you need to try it again”, I’m not gonna cry over that.

‘You just have to be able to take some criticism. Otherwise, we’re living in a world where no one is criticised, and it will become watered down and vanilla, where no one’s trying,’ he added to The Sun.

Strictly Come Dancing airs every Saturday and Sunday on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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