Expect singing, backstage gossip and stand-up comedy as Craig Revel Horwood brings solo show to Blackpool Grand: "I want people to see my warmer side"

Craig Revel Horwood visits the Grand Theatre in Blackpool on 15 May 2022.

He’s best known as the hard-to-please judge on Strictly Come Dancing, but he wants to show his lighter side with the All Balls And Glitter tour.

The show is an autobiographical romp through the West End star’s life.

He said: “I always play the pantomime villain and it will be so nice to play someone who is bright and breezy and have a bit of fun. There’ll be a bit of stand up comedy, and I want people to see a completely different side of me - hopefully a much warmer side.”

In the first act, Craig plays a character who acts as his ghost writer and tells little tales of things that have happened throughout his life.

“She tells all the stories that Craig doesn’t want people to know. She sings lots of songs too - it’s all singing, all dancing.”

There will be big musical numbers, from the shows he appeared in early on - including West Side Story, Miss Saigon and La Cage Aux Folles.

And Cats - the show that kicked off his career when he performed at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens in 1989.

“I auditioned in London but did the show in Blackpool. I’d recently moved from Australia, and I was renting a flat. I remember the endless ‘ding ding ding’ outside.

And I couldn’t work out why there was no electricity. When I learned that I had to put 50p’s in a metre I just thought it was the funniest thing ever. We didn’t have that in Australia.”

The All Balls And Glitter tour was postponed twice due to Covid.

The Strictly judge said he was ‘a nervous wreck’ in the first week of his solo tour, but after 20 shows it’s going well.

“I’ve never gone out by myself like this. I’m starting to enjoy it now and I’m getting used to it.”

He shares the stage with his good friend Ben Goddard, who accompanies Craig on the piano.

“I don’t want to be singing a cappella, darling! We have a bit of banter as well so I’ve got a friend up there with me.”

And then the second half is about the more familiar side of Revel Horwood, namely his 18 year career as Strictly Come Dancing judge.

Expect anecdotes, backstage gossip and a candid Q&A.

“People in the audience can ask anything they want to know. Most people ask Strictly-related questions, but then one guy asked if he could have my coat to give his wife. Every night is different because a lot of it is improvised and we go with the audience that we have.”

The show is loosely based on Craig’s autobiography, published in 2008.

“It’s one thing reading an autobiography but it’s another thing when you see the person actually on stage talking about it themselves. And people don’t necessarily know me from singing so I think that will be interesting. It’s a show I’ve always wanted to do and this seems like the perfect time to do it, to bring a bit of joy into people’s lives.”