STRICTLY’S CRAIG ON WEDDING I might pop the question as we crush grapes.. and get hitched in vineyard
STRICTLY’S Craig Revel Horwood today shows the Sunday Mirror he is well and truly in festive mode and reveals a Christmas cracker about his wedding plans.
The 54-year-old dance guru tells us he and boyfriend Jonathan Myring want a no-frills bash in a new vineyard at their Hampshire mansion.
And the giggling telly judge throws off his “Mr Nasty” shackles to add: “I’d like my proposal to Jonathan to be funny. I might do it while we’re crushing grapes!
SIMPLE
“Then I want our wedding to be in the vineyard, under a canopy of dappled trees.
“We’ll do it in our garden and keep it small and simple, nothing splashy. I’ll invite just people that I absolutely love – friends and family that I’ve known for 30 years.
“I’d like to do it in the afternoon, at the height of summer. It would be gorgeous. The grapes would look beautiful; the photos would be great.
“I don’t want a splashy magazine wedding with celebrities. I’d rather just do it as a couple, keeping it to the people we know and love and trust.”
Craig and Jonathan, 32, have been together for nearly two years.
So when will the wedding be, we ask.
Craig goes on: “All our friends are asking, ‘Are you going to get married?’ But I’m far too busy next year.
“One day though – Jonathan is my soulmate, he’s the man I want to be with for the rest of my life.”
Keeping it a quiet affair means his Strictly co-stars probably won’t be on the guest list – but, come to that, they’re not even invited to his New Year’s Eve bash.
We catch Craig and Jonathan after they really have decked the halls with boughs of holly. Craig, speaking ahead of last night’s Strictly final, chuckles: “I actually have a Christmas tree designer – my friend Paul. He’s a designer so he always wants to come round and change it all because I’ve overdone it.
“Every room will have a different colour scheme, so there’s a pink tree, a white tree with only crystal and white ornaments, and then the traditional tree which we decorate in red and gold and green.”
A hedonistic New Year Eve’s pool party – with log cabin sauna close by – is also planned.
Guests are promised champagne until the early hours while a silent disco – via wireless headphones – will have guests bopping in the lounge.
“We’re going to have a DJ and smoke machines and all sorts of stuff,” Craig
We’ll have a DJ and smoke machine but there’ll be no star names or TV judges... CRAIG REVEL HORWOOD REVEALING NEW YEAR’S BASH
enthuses.
Christmas Day itself will be spent at Jonathan’s parents as Craig takes a mini break from panto.
He plays the Wicked Witch – who else? – in Snow White at Manchester.
But outside of the hustle and bustle of the festive season, the loved-up pair treasure the simple things in life.
SHOW TUNES
Jonathan, who watches little TV and had never seen Strictly until he met Craig, says: “Our time is lovely, we spend most of it on the sofa singing show tunes to one another. And we do a lot of gardening together.
“When you get to know Craig behind the scenes you realise he’s incredibly kind, too kind sometimes. He’s very different to his
screen persona.” The pair have spoken recently about wanting to adopt a child, maybe in a couple of years.
Craig says: “I think it’s a really good idea. Friends have done it and there are a lot of kids out there that need love and a secure home.
I’d adopt an older child, not a baby.”
Jonathan is equally enthusiastic. He says: “I’d love to adopt. I’d like two in one go, hopefully siblings. Craig and I are on the same page.”
The pair reveal there are no worries about their 22-year age gap.
Jonathan says: “Craig’s quite young at heart and I have always been a bit of a grandad, so I think we meet
somewhere in the middle.”
Craig met Jonathan on Tinder while he was on the Strictly Live Tour in Nottingham. They make their relationship work by spending as much time together as possible.
Gardener Jonathan works for Craig on their acres of land and accompanies him to Australia, where the dance guru grew up, for months at a time. Craig also reveals another passion – cooking. He adds: “My signature dish is seafood lasagne – massive king prawns, smoked haddock, cod and a white sauce. I serve it with a pinot grigio or a sauvignon blanc.
“I love getting in the kitchen because I don’t get the chance when I’m staying in hotels and on the road.”
Along with champagne, Craig’s favourite tipples include shiraz. But he knows
I think it’s a really good idea... a lot of kids out there need love and a secure home TV STAR CRAIG ON ADOPTING A CHILD WITH JONATHAN