28 April 2024 , 10:20
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Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood gave fans an update on the daughter of the BBC show's professional dancers Janette Manrara and Aljez Skorjanec - in an adorable photo.
Dressed to impress in a flamboyant outfit teamed with purple beads and a daisy rimmed pair of sunglasses, Craig, 59, was pictured holding baby Lara, who also sported matching sunglasses. He captioned the picture: "Best festival accessory money can buy. What a little dreamboat." Craig and a number of stars from the BBC show were in attendance at Sarah Davies' festival themed birthday party. Sarah, who was the youngest businesswoman to land the role as an investor on Dragon's Den, starred on the popular ballroom dance show back in 2021.
Last year, Craig revealed plans to hang up his dancing shoes after starring on the show since 2004. The TV judge known for his caustic put downs, is on the judging panel along with Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Anton du Beke. But it appears that he feels his Strictly journey will come to an end in the next year or so. In an interview with Best magazine, when talking about the prospect of retirement he said: "I’m working hard while I can, especially as I love what I do. It keeps me on my toes, darlings! I'm now the same age as the late, great Len Goodman was when he first started - that's scary, isn't it?!"
He added: "The reason I look forward to it every year is because the cast changes. I think that's what's fun about it, it doesn't age. And this year's line-up is fab-u-lous!" And when speaking to Loose Women presenter Kaye Adams and Karen MacKenzie on their How To Be 60 podcast, he revealed that he had actually planned to retire at the age of 50.
Craig Revel Horwood poses with the daughter of Strictly's Janette Manrara at festival themed birthday party
Craig Revel Horwood has said that he wanted to retire at the age of 50 (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)He said: "I wanted to retire at 50. I’d set up a plan to retire at exactly 50, from when I was 25 and I was doing Miss Saigon - something like that in the West End. And then I thought, ‘Right, I’m going to set up a retirement plan because I don’t want to be doing this for the rest of my life'. And I went to the people who were arranging it... and I could only afford £126 a month to put into it, but I’d never changed that amount."
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He continued: "And I’m now coming up to 60 and I still haven’t retired, so there you are. I was looking forward to old days, I was looking forward to getting fat, I was looking forward to not having to diet anymore or do exercise, or dance anymore. As much as I love dancing, when you’ve done it for a living, it is the last thing you want to do at parties - it’s bizarre."
During the final in December last year, Craig prompted speculation that his time on the show was coming to an end after he became emotional. But it looks as though he was back to his panto villain persona during the Strictly live tour in February, leaving the audience members in shock.
It is believed he made the dig at Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy. A source told The Sun: "I was at the Strictly live tour last night and Craig was giving feedback to one of the contestants. He was mean and everyone booed and he said 'whatever' with the 'W' with his fingers. He then flipped it around to make an 'M' and said 'minger'."