Showbiz brothers Curtis and AJ Pritchard have never been ones to take a back seat in life, whether it comes to honing their dance skills or landing a variety of new TV gigs.
Refusing to take their foot off the pedal, their time in lockdown has offered the time for the Stoke-On-Trent siblings to focus on another passion – health and fitness.
Curtis, 24, and AJ, 25, have been working out every day and planning healthy meals in an effort to feel good, and their hard work has paid off.
Ahead of their exciting new ambassadorship with The British Dyslexia Association, the brothers spoke exclusively to Daily Star Online about their health-conscious lockdown lifestyle.
Curtis revealed he is enjoying working out “more than ever,” saying: “We’ve actually got into quite a nice routine.
“We wake up, we do fitness, a bit of sunbathing. We’re keeping ourselves busy and active. We’re very fortunate as well, as we are in the countryside so we’re keeping ourselves active.”
Curtis and AJ Pritchard opened up about keeping fit during the lockdown (Image: Instagram)
Older brother AJ agreed: “Usually we’re too busy to do something on a regular basis so to be able to wake up and do fitness every morning has been quite relaxing. It’s the one thing I’ll probably miss when we come out of lockdown, that regime.”
Curtis chipped in: “I’m loving it more than ever if you want the truth. AJ and our lives are busier more than ever and sometimes a routine is hard to find, so actually its been very nice.
“To do it as a family, we’ve actually been motivating each other to do it, I’ve enjoyed it more than ever.”
Having risen to fame on Love Island last summer, Curtis was chosen as the new face of WW – formerly Weight Watchers – back in September, openly sharing his weight loss journey with his fans.
AJ revealed he likes to start his day with a workout session during the lockdown (Image: Instagram)
The Greatest Showman receptionist admitted the WW recipes have helped him with calorie counting during the lockdown, saying: “I’ve been working out, I’m feeling good about myself anyway, thanks to WW.
“We’ve been doing a lot of baking desserts. We’ve been doing a lot of the WW recipes, lemon bars, there was a cheesecake one, I’ve done so many different things.
“It’s portion sizes, things like that, using a bit of less calorie sauce. It’s staying on track. Like we said, it’s the routine, the fitness.”
Curtis revealed he has discovered a newfound love for exercise in recent months (Image: Instagram)
While the brothers have been focused on getting fit, Strictly Come Dancing star AJ admitted he got off to a rocky start at the beginning of the lockdown period.
He joked: “I’m not going to lie, the first week, I ate everything in the house. I did lose the plot.
“After that, I did get into a regular routine as Curtis said. Portion size is definitely the way forward.”
The number of weeks the brothers have spent cooped up in the same house will work in their favour for their latest project, as they have taken on a joint ambassadorship with The British Dyslexia Association.
Curtis admitted he’s been feeling “good” about himself since embracing the healthy new lifestyle (Image: Instagram)
Growing up, both AJ and Curtis struggled with their reading and writing in school due to dyslexia, and to this day they find the learning difficulty can cause nervousness during live appearances.
Reflecting on the experience, AJ said: “For me, I loved numbers, I loved communication skills and I did have to spend more time on my reading and writing.
“Its important for us is that we are dyslexic, we find it hard, we get nervous, we get anxious if we have to read things out in public.
Strictly star AJ is working with The British Dyslexia Association in a new ambassadorship
“The difference is we’ll act our scripts in advance well find as much information as possible, we’ll work that bit harder to make ourselves feel comfortable, feel relaxed and get our point across.
“I think sometimes kids will see that and kids sometimes need to know that people in the limelight do have to work hard it’s not just easy for them as well.”
Growing up, fellow dancer Curtis saw the positives in his dyslexia, revealing it has made him more creative and imaginative as a person over the years.
Curtis revealed he sees his dyslexia as a positive, rather than a negative
Speaking to those who struggle with their reading and writing, he said: “It’s not a downfall. You can still do stuff better and more incredible than other people but it just may take a little bit longer.
“I’m saying this because when I was younger I thought it was a problem. I didn’t want to be labelled dyslexic. I thought it was some scary monster almost that there was some problem with me. In reality that wasn’t the case at all it actually moulded us into the people we are today and I couldn’t be happier.
“We’re very creative, descriptive, expressive and that’s all through the dyslexia. If I’m writing a paragraph or a sentence and sometimes I can’t spell something, my spelling has been known that sometimes spell-check can’t correct it so, therefore, ill be like ‘ok what am I going to do here’.
“I’ll have to think of a whole new way of wording it because I can’t use that word. The way that I look at it is that I have to use my brain more than somebody else and that’s expanded my knowledge in that subject.”
Inspiring others in the same situation, he added: “Therefore, you’re learning more, you’re being more creative and you’re finding ways to progress in your way. That’s why I always think that dyslexia is a positive, not a negative.”
AJ and Curtis Pritchard are Ambassadors for the British Dyslexia Association (BDA). For more information on the BDA visit www.bdadyslexia.org.uk
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
