Craig Revel Horwood: 'I use The X Factor to find actors for my musicals'

'Useful tool': Craig Revel Horwood uses The X Factor to find talent
BBC/Ray Burmiston/Matt Burlem
Alistair Foster16 May 2016
The Weekender

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Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood has teased X Factor creator Simon Cowell by saying he views the TV show as auditions for his own stage productions.

Revel Horwood, 51, is directing the national tour of Sister Act, which stars former X Factor winner Alexandra Burke, and revealed he has just signed up two more singers who have appeared on Cowell’s show.

But he says he is not bothered by the ratings war between the BBC’s Strictly and the ITV talent show.

He said: “It’s not a competition as far as we’re concerned. One is a wannabe. We’ve already got celebrities.”

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Revel Horwood added: “I find it a very useful tool, X Factor. Because I work as a theatre director I use that as an audition place.

"In fact, I’m employing two people from X Factor for Sister Act, so there you are, darling. It has its uses. Thank you, Simon for my free auditions.

“I can’t release their names yet as they’re about to sign. They will be involved in understudying and playing other characters in the show.

"It’s great and that’s what I love about X Factor — I can look on there and go, ‘Ooh! That girl’s great.’ And then I try them out. It’s been fantastic.

"It works hand-in-hand for me. In the theatre it should all be like that — you shouldn’t be up against each other. I don’t know about ratings and all that stuff — all these ratings wars. I care about involving people as much as possible and the two worlds colliding.”

Sister Act starts in July and comes to New Wimbledon Theatre in November.

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