Ahead of the launch of Strictly 2023, judge Craig Revel Horwood has shared his heartbreak after watching his friends die during the AIDS crisis.
Craig, who has been on the BBC dance show since it started in 2004, returns to the panel with Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke at the weekend (September 16).
However, ahead of that Craig spoke to The Guardian about the loss of his friends and wondered how he managed to “escape” the same fate.
Craig shares heartbreak over loss of friends
The Strictly judge was appearing in La Cage aux Folles in 1985, when Australia’s AIDS crisis was peaking. La Cage aux Folles featured two men falling in love and was full of drag queens. As a result, Craig revealed audiences “were not coming to see the show” and it closed early.
Reportedly looking shocked that people could have thought it was possible to contract HIV from sitting in the audience of a show, Craig said: “Everyone was ill-informed, they called it the gay plague. And, yes, a lot of my friends died and I had to witness that. They were 21 year olds dying, 22 year olds, people who hadn’t even lived their lives. I sometimes wonder, how did I escape that?”
He added: “I just thought what is the world turning into? We are human beings, and it’s a human disease, not just a gay one, but they wanted to brand it as something. So the show closed after three months.”
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‘It was just a really sad time’
Craig also shared his heartbreak “when someone is dropping dead every day” and how he coped.
“Doing the show helped. Being with friends helped. Theatre people are wonderful, they create families together. But what could you do? Nothing, except protect yourself. It was just a really sad time. Young, vibrant, amazing people having to deal with mortality and death,” he concluded.
Read more: Strictly favourite ‘marries boyfriend in secret ceremony’
The 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing starts Saturday (September 16) at 6.35pm on BBC One.
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