Strictly's Craig Revel Horwood recalls recent surgery for toe injury
Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has revealed that he recently had surgery to "flatten" his toes, which had become "squashed up" from dancing.
Horwood is currently gearing up to play the Wicked Witch of the West in a musical tour of The Wizard of Oz, but it hasn't been all glitz and glamour as he's revealed that years of wearing high heels had given him "nasty bunions", which he had to rectify before stepping into the Witch's literal shoes.
"It is a dance injury. My little toes got all squashed up and I had a procedure to flatten them out," he explained during an appearance on RTÉ's The Late Late Show on Friday (April 26).
Related: Strictly's Stacey Dooley pays tribute to Kevin Clifton following his show debut
"It is for dancing as I was getting terrible wounds from these nasty bunions, dear."
Showing off the orthopaedic shoes he now has to wear until he recovers, Horwood continued: "Now I have to wear these really cool shoes. I mean, they are pretty hideous, aren't they?
"I'm just saying, they're not a fashion statement – although some people do believe they are, oddly. Now I have teamed them with a flare, everyone thinks I'm trendy – but I still can't walk in them properly.
"This is why I had this done five weeks ago, so I can slip my beautiful new toes into a nice pair of stilettos to come here to play the Wicked Witch of the West."
Related: Strictly's Zara McDermott speaks out on I'm a Celeb rumours
The pro dancer will be back on our screens later this year when Strictly Come Dancing returns with a new batch of celebs who will compete for the coveted Glitterball Trophy.
Revealing who he'd "love" to see on the dance floor earlier this year, Horwood said: "We always dream of royalty. But I would love to see Simon Cowell on it.
"I think he'd suit the costumes, his wit would be brilliant, and his dry sense of humour. I would love it. It'd be so good. A little bit of a taste of his own medicine, I suppose."
Strictly Come Dancing will return later this year on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Tickets for Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals live tour are available now.
Interested in talking about Strictly Come Dancing? Visit our dedicated sub-forum
You Might Also Like