Craig Revel Horwood shares details of final conversation with Ann Widdecombe just days before her death
Strictly Come Dancing’s longest-serving judge Craig Revel Horwood has revealed he had been in contact with Ann Widdecombe just six days before she died.
In an emotional interview, the 61-year-old described what happened as “terrible” and shared the poignant final exchange between them.
Ms Widdecombe had reached out to ask him to appear as a guest speaker at a charity event she could no longer attend, scheduled for October. Mr Revel Horwood agreed without hesitation.
“And the last thing she literally wrote was ‘yippee’ in lowercase letters, then capital Y, ‘Yippee,’ and then the last YIPPEE!!! was all in capital letters with three exclamation marks.
Ann Widdecombe was killed in July
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GETTY“And that was the last I ever heard from her. It was so tragic, the whole thing,” he told the Mirror.
The pair first connected when Ms Widdecombe took part in the eighth series of Strictly in 2010, dancing alongside Anton Du Beke, who now sits on the judging panel himself.
Their bond deepened when Mr Revel Horwood suggested she try her hand at pantomime. He recalled persuading her to take on the role of “Widdy in Waiting” opposite his Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at Dartford in 2011.
“She used to use all of my lines against me that I used on Strictly against her. And she was very funny,” he said.
Craig Revel Horwood is the longest serving Strictly judge | PA
The partnership proved so successful that they continued performing together for three years.
Mr Revel Horwood also remembered Ms Widdecombe’s generosity offstage, noting she would organise gifts for the children in the cast at Christmas. “Everything that you wouldn’t think Ann Widdecombe to be, she was,” he reflected.
“She was an amazing human being, and she was brave; brave enough to come on Strictly and give me what for,” he said.
The judge went on to speak movingly about how their professional relationship had evolved into a genuine and lasting friendship over the years following their pantomime collaborations.
Ann Widdecombe appeared on Strictly as a contestant
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PA“We ended up working together really closely for three years after and became good friends, and we’re still in contact, to this day,” he said, before correcting himself. “Well, we were in contact to this very day.
“It’s such a terrible thing that happened.”
The former Conservative minister was discovered with serious head injuries at her home in Haytor on Dartmoor on July 8, aged 78. She had been struck over the head with a hammer 21 times.
Joshua Kerry, 28, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, was charged with her murder on July 20 following an investigation involving counter-terrorism detectives.
Craig Revel Horwood will return for a new series of Strictly this weekend
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BBCA provisional trial date has been set for June 2027.
Approximately 100 mourners gathered at Buckfast Abbey in Devon for her funeral in August. Her family subsequently announced plans for a public memorial to be held later this year.
Ms Widdecombe served as shadow home secretary from 1999 to 2001 and later became a spokeswoman for Reform UK.
Tributes following her death came from across the political spectrum, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch describing her as “a very fun and feisty woman who spoke her mind.”
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