Craig Revel Horwood has stunned listeners by recounting the terrifying moment he was attacked, slashed with a razor blade and robbed during a holiday in Madrid.

But one important detail has been obscured by some of the dramatic headlines: this was not a new attack. The ordeal happened in 1988, when the future Strictly Come Dancing judge was just 23 years old. Craig has now revisited the disturbing experience on his Judgemental podcast with Anton Du Beke. The Independent

And according to Craig, the nightmare did not end when his attacker fled.

A night out in Madrid ended in violence

At the time, Craig was dancing professionally at the famous Lido in Paris. During a break, he travelled to Madrid for what should have been an enjoyable holiday.

Instead, it became one of the most frightening journeys of his life.

Craig said he was returning from a nightclub at approximately two o’clock in the morning when he was targeted. His jewellery was stolen and a necklace was violently ripped from his neck, leaving a painful friction mark.

Then came the weapon.

“It was a razor blade,” Craig recalled, explaining that he was slashed across the stomach during the robbery.

With his characteristic dark humour, he summarised the ordeal by saying: “I went on holiday in Madrid and got stabbed.” People

Although Craig used the word “stabbed”, his fuller account indicates that he was cut with a razor blade rather than attacked with a conventional knife.

Jewellery stolen and wounds across his body

Craig was left with an injury to his stomach and visible marks around his neck where the necklace had been torn away.

The details paint a frightening picture. He was young, away from home and returning from a late-night club when the robbery happened. In a matter of moments, an ordinary walk became a violent confrontation.

Craig did not reveal whether the attacker was ever identified or arrested. Reports about his podcast disclosure also do not confirm that a new police investigation has been opened.

The alarming “breaking news” is therefore his newly publicised account of a decades-old attack — not a fresh assault in Madrid.

But what happened when he tried to return to France added another extraordinary chapter to the ordeal.

French officials suspected Craig of carrying drugs

Craig returned looking exhausted and dishevelled. He had not shaved, his stomach had been injured and the attack had left marks around his neck.

Rather than immediately recognising him as the victim of a violent robbery, French officials apparently became suspicious of his appearance.

Craig said he was stripped “down to literally nothing” while officials searched him for drugs.

For a young dancer who had just been attacked and robbed, the experience must have felt deeply humiliating. He had survived a terrifying encounter in Madrid, only to find himself treated like a suspect when he returned.

No drugs were reported to have been found.

Craig’s matter-of-fact delivery on the podcast may have produced nervous laughter, but the reality behind the anecdote was grim: he had been wounded, robbed and then forced to remove his clothes during an official search.

Why has the story emerged now?

Craig shared the experience during a discussion about disastrous holidays on Judgemental, the podcast he hosts alongside fellow Strictly judge Anton Du Beke.

The programme is built around the pair’s friendship, theatrical humour and candid conversations about their lives. It launched in June and allows listeners to hear a more personal side of the two television personalities away from the Strictly judging desk. Apple Podcasts

When Anton began discussing an unpleasant trip to Spain, Craig responded with a holiday story that was almost impossible to top.

Yet Madrid was not the only travel disaster he remembered.

His hotel had burned down before he arrived

Craig also recalled flying to Mombasa in Kenya for a long-awaited safari holiday. His accommodation had already been arranged and paid for, and he expected to be taken directly from the airport to his hotel.

Only after arriving was he told the astonishing truth:

The hotel had burned down.

According to Craig, nobody had warned the travellers before they made the journey. Alternative accommodation was eventually found, but the revelation set the tone for another deeply chaotic trip.

And once again, the trouble did not stop there.

Passengers began collapsing at the airport

Craig also described a River Nile cruise that took another alarming turn after members of the group became seriously unwell.

The cause was believed to be salmonella poisoning from spoiled chicken eaten the previous evening. By the time the travellers reached the airport, people began collapsing while waiting in line.

Craig remembered members of the group falling to the ground one after another.

What had been presented as a romantic and adventurous journey became another holiday remembered for illness, confusion and fear. Evening Standard

Craig’s humour masks a genuinely frightening memory

Viewers know Craig for his sharp verdicts, dramatic delivery and ability to find humour in almost any situation. That same instinct was evident when he told Anton about the Madrid attack.

But beneath the jokes was an experience that could have ended very differently.

A razor blade was used against his body. His jewellery was violently taken. He returned to France carrying visible signs of the attack, only to be subjected to an invasive search.

The fact that Craig can now recount the episode with humour does not make the violence less serious. Instead, it shows how he has processed a frightening memory from the earliest years of his career.

No newly launched police investigation has been confirmed

Despite online headlines suggesting police have launched an investigation, the available reports do not support that claim.

Craig has not publicly identified his attacker, and it remains unclear whether anyone was arrested following the 1988 robbery. No newly opened investigation has been announced in connection with his podcast account.

What is confirmed is disturbing enough: Craig says he was robbed, cut across the stomach with a razor blade and left with marks around his neck after his necklace was torn away.

Then, while still bearing the signs of the attack, he was strip-searched by French officials looking for drugs.

Nearly four decades later, the Strictly judge has finally brought listeners inside a holiday nightmare few could have imagined — and revealed that the ordeal waiting for him after the attack was almost as shocking as the robbery itself.