Craig Revel-Horwood suspects he'll "clash" with Shirley Ballas on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.

Craig Revel Horwood

Craig Revel Horwood

The 52-year-old judge - who has been on the panel since the show's inception in 2004 - can't wait for the ballroom dancer, 56, to join the programme as Len Goodman's replacement later this year but has admitted there's a high chance that they'll lock horns throughout the series.

He explained to BANG Showbiz: "I'm really looking forward to working with our new head judge Shirley Ballas, she's going to be fantastic, I met up with her, she's a real laugh, hopefully we'll get on and it won't be a frosty relationship that I had with Len Goody, Goody, Goodman.

"I suspect we'll clash, she's a purist just like Len was, she's from that ballroom and latin world which is very strict, she's going to be great, she's feisty and she'll be funny too. I think she'll be out there, I think she'll be hard on people, she knows her stuff."

But Shirley won't be the only one who will be coming down hard on the celebrity contestants as Craig - who is known for his acid tongue - is hoping this series will be the "harshest" yet.

He said: "This series I'm going to be harsh this series, I'm going to be really critical, super critical and I'm looking forward to doing that and I know we now have Shirley in the room and of course she will be super critical as well and hopefully that will stir people on to be better dancers."