HE'S the Strictly Come Dancing judge we all love to hate.

In line with his pantomime baddie image, Craig Revel Horwood will star as The Wicked Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mayflower Theatre's 2017 pantomime.

A well-known face on television in the UK, and now all over the world, Craig Revel Horwood has acted as a judge on all 13 series of BBC1's smash hit Strictly Come Dancing.

In 2015 Craig returned to his roots as a performer in musical theatre, starring as Miss Hannigan in the new UK national tour of Annie, which played in Southampton.

He has most recently directed and choreographed the new UK tour of Sister Act starring Alexandra Burke which continues to tour throughout 2017 and also plays Mayflower Theatre in June.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs marks Craig’s ninth pantomime for Qdos Entertainment.

For the last three years Craig won critical acclaim as the dastardly Captain Hook in Peter Pan, but this year will see him swap the high seas for some very high heels and play villainess to the beautiful Snow White, a role he has previously played for five seasons at theatres across the UK.

Craigd told the Daily Echo: "It’s been a lot of fun playing Hook for the last three years, but I think it’s time Southampton audiences got to witness my strictly fab-u-lous, all-singing, all-cha-cha-cha-ing, Wicked Queen.

"I’ll make sure that the magical mirror and Southampton audiences will all know that I truly am the fairest of them all.”

Michael Ockwell, Mayflower Theatre Chief Executive, added: “Pantomime is always an important highlight of our year at Mayflower Theatre and we are delighted that Craig will lead our cast of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

With over 60,000 people attending our Christmas show this year we are guaranteed another fantastic panto season for 2017.”

With pirouettes and put-downs, waltzes and wit, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will be strictly unmissable.

The next panto is once again produced by Qdos Entertainment, the world’s biggest pantomime producer and the team behind this year’s record-breaking show Robin Hood, starring Shane Richie and Jessie Wallace, which runs until Sunday.

Tickets for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which will enjoy a three week run from December 15 to January 7 2018, are on sale now from 023 8071 1811 or mayflower.org.uk.