Over the long weekend, Twitter users were equal parts entertained, confused and horrified as footage of Michael Gove dancing at a club in Aberdeen began doing the rounds.
And who could be more qualified to share their take on the viral video than Craig Revel Horwood, who has spent the last 17 years judging everyone from Ed Balls and Edwina Currie to Jacqui Smith and Ann Widdecombe’s moves on the Strictly Come Dancing panel.
During an appearance on Jeremy Vine’s Channel 5 show on Monday, the long-serving judge admitted he’d found the clip “hilarious”, but seemed less than enthused with Gove’s dancing abilities.
“I’ve got to say this,” Craig told the host. “I have to embrace people going out and enjoying themselves and dancing, no matter in what form. However, there is a technical issue here, darling.
“As a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, I can only comment technically. I don’t care how people dance in that respect, but if you’re going out to a nightclub at 1.30 in the morning, pie-eyed, and you get filmed doing this sort of dancing, then it’s your own fault, quite frankly.”
“I would say that he should be a little bit more technical, if you’re going to be in public doing it,” Craig added. “At least rehearse it at home, I would say!
“The problem with his dancing is his core, there isn’t a real urgency or inner rhythm there. He’s trying to compensate that with the flick of a wrist, and he does that over and over again, and that becomes very competitive to watch, darling.
“Now, I know he was out enjoying himself, and for that I would clearly give him a 10… but the only possible score I could give [his dancing] is a 3.”
Gove apparently paid a visit to the Aberdeen nightclub Bohemia on Saturday night, where the Daily Record reported that he turned up on his own.
Club night manager Adam Taylor said: “He was saying he shouldn’t have to pay because he is the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
“I told him that my co-manager, Nina Stanger, was upstairs playing Jungle and going hard. Michael said, ‘I love dancing’ – and did he ever.”
Meanwhile, Craig is currently gearing up for the new series of Strictly, teasing he was “about to start filming” on the pre-recorded launch show, with live shows beginning “towards the end of September”.
“I’m very much looking forward to the series, I love the line-up, I think it’s going to be absolutely amazing,” Craig also told Jeremy Vine.
Jeremy Vine airs every weekday from 9.15am on Channel 5.