Craig Revel Horwood thought Strictly Come Dancing was “terrible” when it first started

Craig Revel Horwood originally thought Strictly Come Dancing was “terrible” when it began in 2004.

The ever hard to please judge has been on the panel of the BBC show since series one more than a decade ago.

But when the show first aired, Craig didn’t have high hopes for its future.

“Show one, series one, it was May of 2004. I recall it well,” he tells Puttin’ on the Glitz: The Strictly Story on Radio 5 Live at 8PM on Saturday. “There were no fanfares, we were creating the show from the beginning. I said, ‘It’s a terrible idea, what an awful idea. It’ll be car-crash television’.

“I said, ‘It’ll be the end of my career’. And I really thought it would be off in three weeks.”

Craig recalled a chat between him and now former head judge Len Goodman: “Len and I, after the first show, said, ‘That was absolutely terrible.

“‘No one’s going to think that’s a good idea. How can it possibly be a good idea getting a celebrity to try and learn in one month what it’s taken most dancers since the age of three to do in 10 to 15 years?’”

Craig went on (via the Daily Mirror): “Way back then, we had a very low budget, no one knew what we were doing. I think we spent about two-and-a-half pence on the scenery, and about 10p on the lighting.

“After about two weeks, three weeks, the popularity was just growing and growing. It’s just insane, actually. It’s been sold on to over 56 countries worldwide. What other BBC show’s ever done that?”

Puttin’ on the Glitz: The Strictly Story airs on Radio 5 Live at 8PM on Saturday.

The new series of Strictly Come Dancing – its 15th to date – will start its live shows on BBC One from next Saturday, September 23.