Craig revel horwood health: strictly star on discovering his condition

Craig Revel Horwood, 54, was a professional dancer for many years, but is now best known for being a Strictly Come Dancing judge. The star still takes to the dance floor on occasion, but a

few years ago he began struggling to walk and masked the pain he felt in his hip with painkillers. A “dull” pain in both his hips began in 2000 when he was in panto. But while Craig

dismissed the pain as a dancer’s injury, it was actually caused by a condition known as osteoarthritis. Speaking to Mirror.co.uk in 2014 he said: “You tell yourself, ‘I’ll just work through

this one, then rest’ but injury creates injury and ignoring them can make things worse. “Then two years ago again when I was in pants, my right hip got much worse when I was dancing and I

ended up limping about the stage - still in my high heels. “I thought I had pulled a ­ligament but the horrible truth was that I had put my hip out and it was out of its socket for the panto

run. “I couldn’t pull out of the panto so I was popping ­painkillers and having a three-hour massage every other day. I assumed it was ligament damage and nothing to do with bone. “Even so,

by the time the Strictly tour was over in the spring, I knew something was really wrong as the pain had got progressively worse.” Craig went to see a specialist and had an X-Ray and MRI

scan, and was “stunned” when he was told by a doctor he had arthritis and needed a hip replacement. At the time he was only 48. He continued: “Basically, I had worn out both hip joints from

dancing and ballet, and it was made worse by the fact that I have arthritis. My mother suffers from ­rheumatoid arthritis but I have ­osteoarthritis. “Ironically, I am the patron of the

National Osteoporosis Society which is all about keeping bones healthy. I had put my body through an enormous amount of stress and strain. I was also anorexic when I was younger, which

didn’t help, because it causes malnutrition of the bones, coupled with the dancing, which makes it worse.” As a result of his osteoarthritis, Craig required hip resurfacing. Following the

procedure he said the BBC looked after him. He revealed: “My normal judge’s chair was too low so they hired 20 special orthopaedic models and places them all down the corridors to the studio

so I could walk and rest.” Craig has made a full recovery since the procedure and says it’s given him “new lease of life”, adding it’s “wonderful to be pain free”. What is osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis is a condition that causes joints to become painful and stiff and is the most common type of arthritis in the UK. According to the NHS, the main symptoms include: * Joint

tenderness * Increased pain and stiffness when you have not moved your joints for a while * Joints appearing slightly larger or more “knobbly” than usual * A grating or crackling sound or

sensation in your joints * Limited range of movement in your joints * Weakness and muscle wasting (loss of muscle bulk) If you experience any of these symptoms, see your GP. Fellow Strictly

judge Shirley Ballas opened up about her health last week.