CURTIS: ‘MUM DOESN’T HAVE A FAVOURITE’ AJ: ‘IT’S ME’
Forget the Hemsworths, Samantha Wood finds out why the Pritchards are our new fave siblings
Ever the professionals, we’re armed with three A4 sheets of questions ahead of heat’s big interview with AJ and Curtis Pritchard, but we needn’t have bothered, as it feels like we only get to ask a small handful. It’s not that the boys refuse to answer them, or that it takes them ages to think of answers – quite the contrary. It’s because they’re like a pair of super-cute wind-up toys, taking each question and bantering back and forth in a hilarious game of verbal ping-pong.
It’s clear that this pair are beyond close, not just in age (AJ is 25 and Curtis is 24), but as brothers – and, so it seems, best friends. When Curtis was on Love Island last summer, AJ confesses that he never missed an episode, and during the years where Strictly star AJ’S career may have looked the most impressive out of the two on paper, his “little” (Curtis is 6ft 3in, AJ is 5ft 7in) brother was always his biggest champion. They’ve both been dancing for their whole lives and Curtis was a pro on Ireland’s Dancing With The Stars.
Today, we’ve come to meet them at a West London ballroom where they’ve been spending long days rehearsing for AJ Live – AJ’S dance tour (featuring Curtis) – which kicks off this month and takes them all around the country. “Curt is the warm-up act,” AJ jokes. “He’s pretty miffed that he didn’t get a bigger part.”
The show promises elaborate staging, high-energy dance numbers, video footage of the boys growing up and lots of the Pritchard repartee, which takes centre stage right now. And, while Curtis seems chipper throughout, just days later, it is revealed that he has split with girlfriend Maura Higgins after seven months together. Looking back at his description of their Valentine’s Day, maybe we should have seen it coming…
Curtis, this is AJ’S show. Would you like to have your own? Curtis: Absolutely! And in my own show, I would “feature” AJ. AJ: Would I be the host? C: I haven’t decided what your role would be just yet, but it would just be “featuring”. Are you annoyed that you’re just a “feature”, Curtis? C: [Laughs.] No, but I’m actually in more numbers than him. AJ: That’s because you’re the warm-up act!
Curtis was always going to be on tour with us, because working together as brothers is what we’ve always kind of done. So, touring together was always the plan. But Love Island came along and then I was like, “Wow, he’s got a lot of Instagram followers now, let’s get him involved.” [Laughs.] C: Just for the ticket sales? AJ: No, that isn’t the case. Well, it is a little bit the case. [Both laugh.] Were you rivals as kids? C: We’ve always been competitive. Whether it’s go-karting or school sports, we’ve always wanted to win. We’ve always helped each other when we’ve been on the same team, but if we’re competing against each other, we want to win. Now, he always thinks that he wins. AJ: That’s because I do win. C: No, he doesn’t. I am the smart one, so I make him believe that he’s won. Did you share a bedroom? Both: No! C: And that’s probably why we didn’t fight. AJ: The good thing was, because we’re only a year apart, we’ve always done everything together. When we started dancing, we did it together. Or if we did snowboarding or mountain climbing, we’d do it together as well.
Do you get jealous of each other’s careers? Both: No. AJ: People will say, “That’s such a lie,” but it’s really not. I am so happy for Curt doing The Greatest Dancer and all the presenting jobs. I’m just happy that people have seen him for his great personality. Yes, he did Love Island, but he got – as Mum would say – a “legitimate job” straight after. Although, he’s only a receptionist for my show now. C: Everyone used to always say, “Aren’t you so jealous of your brother doing Strictly?” No, never. I was a chef at one point, but AJ – or Mum and Dad – never made me feel bad that he was doing something different. We’ve always supported each other. Who was the biggest showman growing up? C: I think that would be me. AJ: I was quite a showman, but Curtis always took it to a whole other level. Did you fight for attention? C: Not really. There was no fight necessary, because I just had the attention. AJ: [Laughs and nods.] AJ’S the bigger brother, so… C: Hang on, you might want to rephrase that. AJ is the older brother. His five foot seven inches stops him being bigger. AJ: Five foot seven-and-a-half! C: Well, I’m six foot three! So, as AJ is the older brother, is he bossier? C: Well, he likes things done the way he thinks they should be done. AJ: Which is the way they should be done. For example, if you use the hob at the front, you’re more likely to touch it and burn your hand. So, you should always use the hobs at the back. It makes sense. C: It doesn’t make sense when the two hobs at the back are the small ones. If a hob is still hot, what do you not do? Touch it. AJ: I like certain things done in certain ways and in certain places. C: And to be fair, after he mentioned it, I use the back hob now. I am living in your place, so it’s the least I can do. You live together? C: Yes. At AJ’S. He turned the spare bedroom into my bedroom.
Just temporarily? C: We’ll see! AJ: That’s the plan, but it never ends up that way does it? Are you good housemates? C: We’re actually not. AJ: He just messes the place up. C: That’s actually not true at all. I clean. Bar my bedroom, which is a mess and I will happily admit that, but the rest of the house, I will clean. What annoys you about each other at home? C: How clean he is! He makes me wipe the water marks off spoons and knives before I put them away. Of course, if we used the dishwasher, there wouldn’t be water marks. But no, we can’t use the dishwasher, can we? AJ: I’ve been in my flat for like 18 months and I’ve never used the dishwasher. It’s still got its sticker on, so it’s nice and clean. C: He doesn’t want the dishwasher to get water marks! AJ, have you ever given Curtis “big brother” advice? C: [Immediately] No. AJ: I have! I’ve always given you advice about your finances and saving money. C: No, I spend the same amount of money as I’ve always spent. I’m just lucky enough to earn a little bit more now. So, it’s all worked out.
AJ: I watched him on Love Island, dishing out all this advice to everyone and I was like, “What are you doing?” C: The advice I gave on Love Island was fabulous! AJ: It was not fabulous – it caused arguments with every couple on there. We’d be watching at home, and when he went to give anyone advice, we’d be like, “Oh, this is not going to go down well.” Do you give each other advice about your love lives? AJ: I’ve never asked for your advice. C: Well, I’ve never asked for yours. AJ: Because we danced so much growing up, we never really had time for dating, so we didn’t do any of that stuff. C: And AJ had no friends. AJ: Hey! If you could pinch one feature from each other, what would it be? AJ: I feel like I should say a bit of your height.
‘Curtis wears the most make-up’ AJ
C: We were always the same sort of height, but then I did a back flip on a trampoline and broke my leg. AJ: And now he’s got stupidly long legs. C: And AJ just stayed the same. Would you really want a bit of his height, AJ? AJ: I think a little bit. Five foot nine or ten would be so much easier. I have to go on my tiptoes a lot and it’s a bit annoying. C: I’d have nothing from AJ. [Laughs.]
If we asked your mum, who would she say is her favourite? C: She wouldn’t say. AJ: [Whispering] She’d say AJ. Does she still worry about you both? C: She’s our mum, I don’t think she’ll ever stop worrying. She might not live with us, but she lives on the phone! AJ: And Dad comes to most places with me, to make sure I eat lunch. [Dad waves from the back of the room.] C: There he is, over there, just making sure we’re still alive. As kids, is there anything you did that you’ve never confessed to your brother? C: There is one thing. I once drew on the computer screen… AJ: I know…
C: I drew “AJ” with a rubber on the family computer screen. Mum came in and was like, “Who’s done this?” I was like, “It wasn’t me! Why would I write AJ?” AJ: I got so told off. C: [Laughs.] Yeah, he did. And they say he’s the smart one. AJ: There was one time I was really angry with him, so I picked up a HP Sauce bottle and threw it at him. It hit the wall and exploded everywhere. It was 15 minutes before Mum and Dad got home, so we had to scrub everything and it stank. It ruined the kitchen curtains. That was ten years ago and they’ve never been put back up. Who wears the most make-up? AJ: Curtis. C: Me? You’ve been on Strictly for years! AJ: “The most” doesn’t mean the cumulative amount. It means the most at one time. Who is the vainest? AJ: Me. So, you spend the most time on your hair? AJ: No. I’m just the best looking. Who’s the most romantic? AJ: Me. C: Woah, what? Not. A. Chance. AJ: What did you do for Valentine’s Day? C: I was on The Greatest Dancer. AJ: So, what did you do for Maura on Valentine’s weekend? C: She was on Dancing On Ice! AJ: You didn’t do anything. I took Abbie [Quinnen, his dancer girlfriend] out for a lovely meal. I went all out. C: You weren’t working – you had time. I got Maura a bouquet of roses and a nice bottle of wine. Tesco’s Finest. ■
AJ Live is in theatres until 21 March. Buy tickets at Atgtickets. com and Seetickets.com