With the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 final fast-approaching, you'd think Craig Revel Horwood had enough to be getting on with right now. But, not content with dishing out some oh-so-controversial comments on our tellyboxes every weekend, he's only gone and released a bloomin' Christmas single.
Yep - Craig's been hard at work putting together an entire album with his best mate Rietta Austin; the first single being the camp-as-tits new festive classic It's Christmas, Merry Christmas!
Since we haven't had the '50s-tinged track off our holiday playlist, we just had to catch up with Craig and Rietta for a chat about how it all came about.
We also found out in the process that Craig's banned from Facebook, which was a rather unexpected revelation.
Chatting to heat's Kay Ribeiro for the latest Christmas double issue of heat, Craig explained, "In lockdown I said to my friend Rietta, 'wouldn’t it be fun if we did something Christmassy like a Christmas single – I mean, just for the family?'
And then we did it last year and the people around me were saying, 'You should release this.' And I went, 'Don’t be ridiculous! It’d be silly.' And then we decided just to go for it this year because, I don’t know, the second and third lockdown, I just went, 'The place needs cheering up!'
And everyone was bringing out Christmas singles and they were really depressive, and I thought 'Why?! Let’s go back to the ’50s, because that’s my favourite era for Christmas, and joy and everything perfect and stuff, and do something like that.' So Rietta and I wrote the number and we recorded it.
Asked if they're aiming for the coveted Christmas number 1 spot, he added, "Well, we’re going to try, I mean it would be a laugh if it happens! Yeah, why not go for gold darling. If you’re entering the race, be in it to win it.
"Weirder things have happened! It will be interesting to see. But it’s a really fun tune and I’m looking forward to getting it out there. It’s a jive around the Christmas tree sort of dance-y thing, which I think people love, and it’s really up, it’s fun, it’s frivolous.
"You know, I want to knock Mariah Carey off her ever-present perch, and then maybe Mariah and I can do a tune together! Can you imagine? If Westlife did it, I can!"
Well, quite.
Asked if we can expect to see the pair limbering up to take part in some TikTok dance trends, Craig joked, "TikTok, unfortunately, has to be part of our lives. I've been given this whole other job - 'social media' - and it's doubled my workload. Not only with Strictly, but in every aspect of life.
"I deleted myself from Facebook but then, when I tried to get back on it, they wouldn't let me have an account. They said I was impersonating Craig Revel Horwood. It's ridiculous.
"They've closed my account down. I told them 'this is the real Craig Revel Horwood,' sent them my passport and my driving license and they still closed me down."
Blimey.
Getting ridiculously excited about the track, Rietta said, "Craig and I are so delighted to release our first single.
"We had so much fun recording it and can’t wait for you to hear it and dance to it! It’s an uplifting toe-tapper, there are jokes, sleigh bells, a killer sax solo and its infectious spirit makes you just want to have a good time. Everything you could ask for during the festive season!"
Craig and Rietta's new single It's Christmas, Merry Christmas! is out now. Stream it, stick it on your socials and swig a mulled wine of three to it.
For more info, head over to craigandrietta.com.