Craig Revel Horwood will miss Strictly this week due to Covid

For the third time this series, Strictly has been dealt a blow by Covid. This week, it’s judge Craig Revel Horwood who will be forced to miss the show after testing positive for the virus. Previously, Tom Fletcher and his partner Amy Dowden and Judi Love and her partner Graziano Di Prima were forced to sit out of weeks 2 and 5 respectively due to contracting Covid.

Craig Revel Horwood to miss Strictly

This will be the first time Craig—who is the only original Strictly judge still on the panel—has missed a show. The BBC released a statement on Monday saying:

Craig Revel Horwood has tested positive for Covid-19 and is now self-isolating following the latest government guidelines. While Craig will not be taking part in Strictly Come Dancing this weekend, all being well he will return the following week.

Meanwhile, the news was also addressed on spin-off show It Takes Two on Monday night as presenter Rylan said:

We are sending you all our love and we can't wait to see you, really soon.

Strictly without Craig

Craig’s absence may well mean we see some more perfect scores than usual this weekend. He is infamous for being the harshest marker on the panel—even dishing out 3s and 4s on occasion. Last week, he was the only judge not to give Rose and Giovanni a perfect 10 for their Couple’s Choice dance to Symphony. The week before, he gave a 9 to AJ and Kai for their Charleston while the other three judges all gave them a perfect score.

We’ll certainly miss Craig being on the judging panel this weekend and we’re wishing him a very speedy recovery!