STRICTLY SAF’S CHA-CHA-CHOO Influencer’s flu hampered vital rehearsals
the cha-cha the most. She said: “It doesn’t come natural to me. So I already felt I needed to put more time into this dance.”
The vlogger with more than two million followers also revealed she has become friends with celebrity rivals – presenter Anneka Rice, 60.
She said: “Anneka is like a mother figure to us. People wouldn’t expect us to be so close – but we get on so well.” Anneka turned her back on
dancing as a teenager. While STRICTLY
her friends were out star Anneka Rice
clubbing in the 80s she has revealed she was so was busy building overweight as a child that her career. classmates called her Rice Speaking in Pudding. And she says she was Weekend magakicked out of ballet class for being zine yesterday “ungainly and plump”. The TV star she said: “I’ve
of Challenge Anneka – Strictly’s started doing oldest contestant this year at 60 – stand-up comedy tells how she then “turned into and Strictly is part a bit of a tomboy” and never of that madness. wore pink dresses “It’s a joke. I can’t again. dance. I can’t even clap
in time but I woke up this year feeling reckless.”
Last night Saffron and AJ’S cha-cha to Jess Glynne and Jax Jones’ One Touch earned them 23 points.
When added to their 27 for their energetic tango from week one it should be enough to save them from becoming the first couple to be axed. STRICTLY Come Dancing’s Saffron Barker has been looking and feeling hot all week – but not in a good way.
The social media influencer was floored by a flu-like illness, restricting her rehearsals with pro partner AJ Pritchard ahead of last night’s show.
Pictures of AJ, 24, with his arm around single Saffron, 19, and sharing earphones are also unlikely to have helped.
AJ is dating dancer Abbie Quinnen and the touchy- feely shots raised fears she may become the latest victim of the Strictly curse.
Although AJ has insisted she should have no fear of that.
Youtuber Saffron said: “It’s been tough. If I wasn’t dancing I’d be lying in bed. I looked rough and felt rough.
“It was like the flu. Coughing, sneezing and I lost my voice. I had a temperature so I’d get hot really fast.
“That was hard. We couldn’t run through the dance as many times as we would have liked.”
But Saffron said: “I had to get through it. AJ’S has been very patient.” Being sick came at the worst possible time for Saffron, who feared