Holly: My fears for dance partner Curtis
HOLLY Carpenter has told the Irish Daily Mail of her ‘total shock’ on learning that her Dancing With The Stars partner Curtis Pritchard is desperately trying to save his dancing career – after a vicious nightclub attack.
Curtis, 23, has been forced to drop out of the show, which kicks off next Sunday, as he now has to have crucial knee surgery.
He told of his dread of what the future holds, yesterday, saying: ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if I can’t dance again. I just hope that the operation can save me.’
His partner Holly, a former Miss Ireland, told the Mail she’s devastated for him. She faces the daunting prospect of starting from scratch with a new partner as the intensely fought competition is about to begin. Curtis and his brother AJ, 24, were badly injured when they were set upon by a gang of about eight youths in a nightclub near their UK home on December 27.
Curtis had the worst injuries as he acted as a ‘human shield’ to protect his brother, a professional dancer on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing. He suffered the knee injury, a suspected broken nose, an eye injury, a split lip, and was knocked unconscious.
The brothers had been enjoying a night out with two friends at a Cheshire nightclub.
Holly told the Mail: ‘When I got the call and heard, “Don’t panic but something has happened to Curtis” the first thing I did was panic. When the production team told me what happened to him and his brother AJ I felt sick to my stomach and I was in total shock. All I wanted was speak to him and give him a big hug.’
She has spoken ‘briefly’ to him and he told her of his determination to recover and be back on the dancefloor soon.
She said: ‘It feels so strange not knowing when I’ll see him again now. I feel selfish even thinking about my position in the competition when my main concern is Curtis’s wellbeing.
‘I’ve been rehearsing with Curtis five days a week for over a month now, he has been a really patient teacher and we have become great friends.
‘I know they’ll find a great professional dancer for me while Curtis recovers though, so I have to focus and make the most of the short time we have before our first dance on week two of the show.
‘I want to give it my all and make Curtis proud because I was like Bambi on ice before he started teaching me how to dance.’
She added: ‘Curtis is always reminding me to smile, no matter what happens during a dance, so that’s the first thing I’ll have to make sure I do or I’m sure he’d call me and ask where my smile was.’