AJ Pritchard is quickly becoming a favourite to win this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, but his TV history stretches much further back.
The 26-year-old is best known as a former professional on Strictly Come Dancing, having joined the cast of the BBC One dance competition in 2016.
But when he was just a teenager, AJ auditioned on Strictly Come Dancing – and made it through to the live semi-finals.
In an unearthed video, AJ could be seen auditioning before the panel of celeb judges alongside his dance partner Chloe Hewitt.
With his blonde hair slicked back, and wearing a sheer black mesh vest, the baby-faced teenager looked unrecognisable in comparison to his rugged appearance on I’m A Celeb.
AJ was just 18 when he appeared on Strictly with his dance partner Chloe Hewitt (Image: Youtube)
Aged just 18 at the time, he turned to head judge Simon Cowell and said: “I’ve been dancing with Chloe for about six years now, so since the age of 12.
“We just wanted to come on here to show you our talent, and that Britain’s Got Talent.”
The pair impressed the judges with a medley of different techniques, sailing through to the live semi-finals after four “yes” votes.
Behind the scenes, the pair discussed their experience as dancers, with AJ saying: “At school, I kind of go in, do my work, leave as soon as possible, go home, ring Chloe, practice in the studio again.
The teen dancer wore a sheer mesh vest for the audition, making it through with four “yes” votes (Image: Youtube)
“We definitely do at least two hours training every single day.”
Chloe then pointed out they had made huge sacrifices in order to commit to their gruelling training regime, leaving them with little time to make friends.
She said: “We’ve practically had to give up our whole life for this, social life doesn’t really come into it much. So we don’t really go to parties and we don’t sort of do that sort of thing.”
AJ added: “I don’t really have that many friends, to be honest!”
AJ is one of 12 stars battling to be crowned King of the Castle on I’m A Celeb (Image: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)
Their hard work paid off, as judge Amanda Holden sang her praises about their dance routine, saying: “It was absolutely faultless and I loved every second of it, well done.”
“I really liked it guys, it was very polished, really slick, and it was very sexy,” Alesha Dixon added.
And Simon finished: “You have the talent, I can see how much work you’ve put into it. I think it’s one of the best acts we’ve seen today.”
The pair lost out to winning act Attraction, a Hungarian shadow theatre group, that year, and failed to appear before the Queen at the Royal Variety Show.
However, their dancing skills caught the eye of BBC One bosses, and both AJ and Chloe were snapped up as professionals on Strictly three years later.
The rest is history!
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
