Strictly Come Dancing’s celebrity stars are apparently not very happy with Craig Revel Horwood, after he levelled a ‘hurtful’ jibe at Stacey Dooley recently.
The judge was forced to apologise after he suggested the contestants ‘sleep with their partners’ which was directed at Stacey after she began a relationship with pro partner Kevin Clifton following their 2018 glitterball win.
Now it’s been alleged some cast members are calling for the judge to step down, wondering how he can impartially comment on the dancers following his statement.
‘The cast thinks it’s completely unprofessional and rude, given his massive pay packet and position of power,’ a source told The Sun in the wake of the comment.
‘They don’t understand how he can fairly judge now.’
It comes after his comments caused the BBC One show to halt filming for a period, according to previous reports.
It’s said during a taping of the dance programme on Saturday night, ahead of its 7 September premiere, the 54-year-old admitted he made a ‘huge error’ in his quip and regretted the jibe.
‘I’m deeply sorry for the offence caused to Kevin and Stacey and everyone who works on the show,’ he later said, according to The Sun.
‘I recognise that what I said was hurtful, cruel and incredibly disrespectful. It was a huge error of judgment that I very much regret.’
His apology came after he was asked by host Tess Daly what this year’s contestants can emulate in Stacey and Kevin, who reportedly performed a dance as last year’s reigning champs.
Initially saying everyone should be inspired by the 32-year-old journalist, he’s said to have added: ‘Stacey was dragged up from the dance gutter… of course, if you sleep with your dance partner that helps.’
According to the sources, filming was halted and aides rushed over to Stacey, who was sitting in the audience with her family.
‘Immediately after he made the comment, “cut” was called, and chaos broke out,’ a source said.
They added: ‘Several aides rushed over to Stacey and her family to check if they were OK. They were all stunned, and Stacey’s mum obviously wasn’t OK at all.’
He was ‘more than happy’ to make an apology to Kevin and Stacey, who have formed a romantic relationship following their glitterball win.
Metro.co.uk contacted BBC and reps of Craig for comment.
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