Craig Revel Horwood is judging on the Strictly tour(Picture: BBC)
Strictly Come Dancing has hit the road after another successful series, and Craig Revel Horwood has noticed that fans are rather passionate.
The judge even compared the Strictly tour’s followers to Beatlemania – the extreme adulation that was shown towards the popular band in the 1960s by fans, which was characterised by screaming, and true excitement whenever they got near the foursome.
He has noticed that people have been turning up at venues outside of the stadiums where they perform to thousands, to meet the stars of the show, which includes winners Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola, and finalists Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin, as well as Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell.
‘They [fans] pack out the foyers and all sorts. It is amazing,’ revealed Craig.
He added that they’ve taken precautions to the Mirror: ‘They’re not allowed near our rooms – we have security. But people are obsessed with the show.’
Craig even found that fans got excited when he attended an ABBA event but has learnt to go with the flow.
Fans are excited to see the Strictly stars (Picture: Guy Levy/BBC/PA Wire)
‘It was like I was Benny or Bjorn. You can’t control it. You just have to sort of go, “OK, I’ll do this, stop pushing, you’ll all get your turn”.
‘It has been 20 years, so I’m sort of used to it. And I’m not Madonna or Cher… It could be worse,’ he acknowledged.
Craig celebrated his 59th birthday earlier this month and this means in under a year he plans to sit down more and dance less.
Craig hangs up on his dancing shoes (Picture: PA)
‘I want to hang up my dance shoes after 60, which means I’m not going to be going on stage.
‘Sitting, holding paddles from one to four, is a lovely retirement, so I’ll stay with it until I’m dragged out of there, darling.’
Hopefully, for the cast of Strictly 2024 and beyond, he hasn’t forgotten about five to 10 paddles too.
He also noted that he is now the late Len Goodman’s age when he started on Strictly, which he finds ‘mad’.
Craig finds it ‘mad’ that he’s the same age as Len Goodman when he began on Strictly (Picture: PA)
The Strictly touring cast which also includes Craig’s fellow judges Shirley Ballas, and Anton Du Beke, have reportedly been partying like popstars too!
Following opening night on Friday, they got their groove on at Birmingham’s Malmaison hotel until 3am after a three-course meal, claims The Sun.
‘The hotel bar had completely closed and all of the guests were in bed but they were still going at 3am,’ an onlooker told the publication.
‘They didn’t have a DJ but made the most of the party by plugging their phone into the wall, playing music and dancing around that.’
Prior to the tour beginning Ellie, 22, and Bobby, 20, took themselves off for a cheeky Nando’s, before Ellie cleared up her relationship status.
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Fans are passionate about the Cha-cha-chaers.