Friends for life.. & who knows?
Strictly AJ hints at romance with Lauren
DANCER AJ Pritchard looks set to sweep his Strictly partner Lauren Steadman off her feet after he hinted that romance is on the cards.
AJ, 24, who was linked to his celebrity partner Mollie King last year, has suggested that he and Lauren, 25, could get together after this series ends.
He said: “I am very protective of Lauren because we have worked so close together.
“There are different things that she will talk about in training that she would never talk about on camera.
“It’s for that reason that we have grown so close together and we will be friends for life and who knows in the future.
“You never know what is going to happen.”
Single sports star Lauren, who won silver in paratriathlon at the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics, is becoming a favourite to win the Glitterball.
AJ also revealed that the show had made Lauren less selfconscious about what she calls her “stumpy arm”.
He said: “We were doing a step today and I wanted to hold Lauren’s ‘stumpy arm’. I said, ‘I want you to use it and throw it in the air and bring it down as though your hand would be there’.
“I remember saying the same thing in Week One and she was like, ‘No, I feel so self conscious of my arm’. So for her now to say, ‘I feel more comfortable about my arm’, it is inspiring.
“The amount of messages we get sent in by young kids who are born with one arm and they say, ‘Seeing you on TV makes it more normal for us to have an arm like this’.”
AJ added: “In the past, people would come up to Lauren and look at her arm and be cautious. Now they talk to her and they want to touch her arm and they say, ‘Oh my God, you are so amazing on Strictly’.
“It’s so inspirational and it’s what she wanted from week one and she is achieving it.”
This week the pair are performing in Blackpool, which South African dancer Johannes Radebe likened to a squatters’ camp. But AJ said: “For a dancer, it’s the absolute Mecca. Blackpool is my history. Every European championship and every national championship has been in the ballroom. “There’s a lot of magic you can’t even put into words. But I can’t lie, it is freezing.” Former pro dancer Brendan Cole recently confirmed that Saturdays star Mollie, 31, and AJ got together in the last series. Brendan said earlier this year: “Two young single people who get together on the show – it’s great, right?”
■ Bruno’s Bellissimo Blackpool is available for pre-orders now.