Irish Daily Mirror

As a teen, having psoriasis felt like the end of the world

The Strictly pro tells Amy Packer how stress triggers his skin condition – and about the herbal cure that finally helped him ditch steroid cream

- ■■For more informatio­n about Medovie go to medovie.com.

As he tangos and foxtrots his way across our TV screens, you’d never imagine Strictly Come Dancing’s Aljaž Škorjanec has any issues with confidence.

But as a teenager, the profession­al dancer developed psoriasis, a skin condition that causes red, flaky, crusty patches of skin covered with silvery scales, which has affected him badly for over a decade.

“When I was about 18, I stopped dancing competitiv­ely and it was a huge change in my life,” recalls Aljaž, 31, who is married to fellow Strictly star Janette Manrara, 37.

“I’d had enough of the competitio­n world – there was so much politics involved and my parents had been supporting me financiall­y, and I just didn’t think I should do it any more.

“But I was unsure what I was going to do and this huge void made me stressed.

“It was around that time I started getting odd patches on my knees, which then spread to my elbows.”

He saw a dermatolog­ist, who diagnosed psoriasis and prescribed steroid creams. Things improved, but when Aljaž left home to work on a theatre show in Australia, the condition really took hold.

“I was 20 and it was really difficult because I didn’t really fully understand why all of a sudden my skin was changing so drasticall­y,” he says. “It’s not really the most aesthetica­lly pleasing thing to have.

“I was getting frustrated because, for the world that I work in, appearance­s mean so much and it had gone everywhere – even my face. But getting stressed only made it worse.”

Unfortunat­ely, psoriasis can be very difficult to treat.

“I’ve seen roughly 20 different specialist­s who all thought they could help,” says Aljaž.

“I did tests to find out what foods might trigger it, if I’m allergic to anything, and tried countless products. “About six years ago, back home in Slovenia, I even had an injection straight into the psoriasis, which I knew was a bit odd at the time, but when you’re desperate you will try anything.

“It was very frustratin­g because each time, I would think I’d found a solution, but after a couple of weeks my skin would get back to its old ways and the problem seemed to come back worse than before, which felt even more infuriatin­g.” Ultimately,

Aljaž found it simpler to hide the marks.

“I was always really conscious of what I was wearing,” he says. “I would rarely wear a short-sleeved T-shirt and still now you are never going to see me wearing shorts unless I’m on holiday somewhere hot and I have to. I’d never take any photos of me really bad because that’s when you don’t want anyone to see you.”

Taking part in Strictly brought its own issues. “We put in long hours and the body is under a lot of stress,” he admits. “I love the Strictly outfits – I wouldn’t change them for anything – but when you dance, you sweat a lot, which tends to make psoriasis worse, so I have to be really, really careful how much I cover up and how much I let my skin breathe. In 2016, when I danced with Daisy Lowe, my psoriasis was at its worst. I was pretty much in a turtleneck and long sleeves for the whole series.

“The costume department is so supportive and understand­ing though, and I never feel like it is a problem for anyone but me.”

The show’s make-up causes issues too. “It definitely makes things worse,” says Aljaž. “If nothing else, when you’re taking it off, you have to rub the areas that are affected with psoriasis, so they flare up even more.”

Lockdown last March also proved a trigger. “Janette and I were supposed to be touring, but that was cancelled and we were so unsure of our future – what was going to happen with work and everything was so stressful really so, of course, it flared up.”

The experience made him decide to talk publicly for the first time when Strictly returned to our screens last autumn. He says: “I finally found the courage to open up a little bit, because I know what it’s like to feel selfconsci­ous, but I also know that when you have psoriasis you are more aware of it than anyone.

“When I was in my teenage years, it felt like it was the end of the world. I just wanted to let other sufferers know that it’s okay.”

One person watching that day was skincare specialist Nadav Shraibom, who had cofounded natural skincare brand Medovie, which uses a trio of herbs from traditiona­l Chinese medicine to support problem skin. Nadav got in touch with Aljaž, who began trying the products.

“Using Medovie has been incredible really,” says Aljaž. “You take these pills, you have this lotion and a derma cream, and when you treat your body from every angle, I feel like it is just more effective.

“This is the longest I’ve gone without steroid cream in years – I was always using it alongside all the other creams that I would be trying at any given moment – and it thins the skin which makes the problem worse in the long run.

“I’ve been using Medovie for about three months now and my skin is the best it has been for a decade. I’m thrilled.

“I’ve never had this result with any other product – it’s amazing.”

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When you’re desperate you’ll try anything... even an injection

 ??  ?? THIN-SKINNED Aljaž had issues of confidence due to his psoriasis
ME & MY BODY: ALJAŽ ŠKORJANEC
THIN-SKINNED Aljaž had issues of confidence due to his psoriasis ME & MY BODY: ALJAŽ ŠKORJANEC
 ??  ?? COVER STORY Dancing with Daisy wearing long sleeves to hide his condition
COVER STORY Dancing with Daisy wearing long sleeves to hide his condition
 ??  ?? ROUGH PATCH Problems on his shin
ROUGH PATCH Problems on his shin

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