Strictly Come Dancing pro Aljaz Skorjanec has given his advice on how to avoid the BBC show’s infamous curse.
Over 20 years Strictly has sparked many off-screen romances between celebrities and their professional partners, with some even leaving their spouses to pursue these relationships.
But Aljaz, who is celebrating his tenth series on the show, says there is a simple solution as to how to combine your personal life with the intense competition.
‘I always found the best way to do Strictly with someone in a relationship with a family is to do it as one big unit, because there’s a lot of time in rehearsals,’ he told the Loose Women panel during an appreance on Tuesday.
Strictly Come Dancing pro Aljaz Skorjanec has given his advice on how to avoid the BBC show’s infamous curse, pictured with his dance partner Tasha Ghouri
Aljaz, who is celebrating his tenth series on the show, says there is a simple solution to combining your personal life with the intense competition
Aljaz has been married to former Strictly dancer turned It Takes Two presenter Janette Manrara for seven years, while his current Strictly partner, Tasha Ghouri is happily loved up with her Love Island boyfriend Andrew Page, of whom Aljaz is a huge fan.
‘It’s good to be involved,’ the dancer explained. ‘So we went on a double date. Secretly I want to go on a date with Andrew alone!’
Tasha gushed of her beau Andrew: ‘He loves Aljaz as well. He’s just so proud and he’s happy because I’ve stopped talking about wanting to do Strictly every day. He’s so proud and loves watching it.’
Aljaz returned to the Strictly dancefloor this year after a two year absence, during which he spent time with his and Janette’s daughter Lyra, 14 months.
‘Two years away. It feels a bit surreal,’ he admitted on Loose Women. ‘A year ago on the couch, I would never have thought I’d be back, but then I got the call.’
‘Being at home for a year with my little one was the best thing I’ve ever done. But her now pointing at the telly going “Daddy daddy!” makes it all worth it.’
Tasha has been criticised as having an unfair advantage due to her dance background but as she progresses in the competition the reality star is feeling more relaxed about the ‘outside noise.’
Aljaz has been married to former Strictly dancer Janette Manrara for seven years, while his current partner, Tasha is happily loved up with her Love Island boyfriend Andrew Page
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‘I’m focusing on the positive. It’s a completely different dance style to what I’m used to. I’m having to strip it down and do the counting which is alien to me. It’s quite a lot to process, you’re doing a new dance, new counts every week.’
Tasha, who was born deaf and wears a cochlear implant, relies on counting to help learn the steps.
She explained to the Loose Women what exactly she can hear through her implant: ‘Imagine very loud bass in the music, is what I hear. More instruments is better,’ she said.
‘It’s hard to hear the soft piano and so the counting is even harder. Before I go on I close my eyes do breathing exercise. Especially with the Barbie routine I was so nervous I could not stop shaking.’
Tasha gushed of her beau Andrew: ‘He loves Aljaz as well. He’s just so proud and he’s happy because I’ve stopped talking about wanting to do Strictly every day’
Aljaz returned to the Strictly dancefloor this year after a two year absence, during which he spent time with his and Janette’s daughter Lyra, 14 months
‘I try not to let that stress overtake me, like Tash you’ev got this. But when you get on the floor, you’ve got cameras, judges, you’ve got to navigate those nerves.
Tasha and Aljaz topped the leaderboard during the third episode over the weekend with an impressive score of 34 for their Barbie-themed Rumba.
It was a three-way ties for second place though with Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola; Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu and Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez all on 32.