He's playing the Wicked Queen in the Manchester panto this Christmas, but Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood has nothing but nice things to say about Oldham's Kelvin Fletcher.
The sharp-tongued TV judge thinks Kelvin is the one to watch in this year's Strictly Come Dancing line-up, describing him as a 'god.'
Craig, 54, says the former Emmerdale actor, who stepped in as a replacement for Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing after he suffered an injury, has got what it takes to go on to lift the coveted Glitterball trophy with his professional partner Oti Mabuse.
"He's a god on the dancefloor. The way he dances, he's waving the dance flag for Manchester and all people up north as well," he said.
"He could go all the way. He's amazing. He came in at the last minute and took over and wow."
Craig is also full of praise for another local contestant, former Coronation Street actress Catherine Tyldesley from Walkden.
"Catherine is also a delight and we're loving her. We're very lucky," he told the Manchester Evening News.
Kelvin, who played Emmerdale's Andy Sugden for 20 years until 2016, had only two weeks to prepare for the opening night of the BBC dance show after stepping in as a replacement for Jamie, and he raised temperatures across the nation with his hip-shaking samba.
Fans were re-watching the 'spicy' routine after he and Oti made their debut on the live show.
They danced the samba to La Vida Es Un Carnaval by Celia Cruz- and they powered straight to the top of the leaderboard with an impressive score of 32 out of a possible 40.
Last week the praise came pouring in again when they danced a romantic waltz to What The World Needs Now.
Craig is also complimentary about Manchester and its 'beautiful' restaurants including San Carlo, and he's looking forward to visiting the Christmas Markets when he performs in Snow White at the Opera House,
"I love Manchester and I can't wait to be here," he told us.
"I love the people.
"I'll be living here the whole time and it will be cold and hopefully there will be snow."
This will be the seventh time that Craig has played the Wicked Queen in panto.
"I love her because she's so evil and you can have fun with that," he said.
"And she wears fabulous dresses and high heels."
He added: "Pantomime introduces children to theatre and it's is a great way to keep theatre alive."
Snow White runs at the Opera House from Friday December 6 to Sunday December 29.
To book tickets click here.
