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Craig Revel Horwood has said he didn\u2019t feel \u2018exploited\u2019 having a \u2018sugar daddy relationship\u2019 with an older colleague when he was a teenager.<\/p>\n
The Strictly Come Dancing judge, 58, was born in the town of Ballarat in Australia and began dancing as a young child to get out of the house and away from his alcoholic father.<\/p>\n
Just 15 when he left home, Craig moved to Melbourne and first had a period working as an apprentice chef before getting a job at a TV station as a trainee cameraman.<\/p>\n
However, he\u2019s now spoken more about how during that time he had a \u2018sugar daddy\u2019 arrangement with someone he worked with.<\/p>\n
In the \u2018business arrangement\u2019, the man, who was in his 40s, took Craig on a six-week trip to see shows in New York and London and paid for his dance classes.<\/p>\n
In return, the pair had a sexual relationship.<\/p>\n
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Despite discussions around power imbalances in relationships in recent years, Craig has said he doesn\u2019t see any issue with what happened.<\/p>\n
\u2018No, I didn\u2019t feel it was wrong,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018For me, it was a relationship in that way. It wasn\u2019t rent on the corner of the street.<\/p>\n
\u2018It was a sugar daddy relationship, simple as.\u2019<\/p>\n
He added he didn\u2019t feel it was exploitative at all.<\/p>\n
\u2018I got something from it, and he got something from it, and then we went our separate ways,\u2019 he said when speaking to The Guardian. \u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u2018It could have been worse, I suppose. He was supportive of everything I was doing, dance-wise, and getting me through difficult times.<\/p>\n
\u2018Someone I could talk to \u2013 so for me, it was a learning experience, it taught me a lot and it wasn\u2019t abusive in any way.\u2019<\/p>\n
In his 2008 memoir, All Balls and Glitters, Craig discussed his relationship with the man, who he referred to as Mr X.<\/p>\n
In the book, Craig said he \u2018knew I didn\u2019t love or even find him attractive, but he got what he wanted and I got away from Ballarat\u2019.<\/p>\n