Celebrity Hunted: Dancer AJ already a TV winner
AJ Pritchard continues his Strictly Come Dancing challenge in the knowledge that he has already won one reality show this year.
The ballroom dancer was shown being overcome by emotion on Celebrity Hunted this week as the final of the Channel 4 series came to a dramatic close.
The show was filmed in the summer, shortly before he went into rehearsals for Strictly.
And this week viewers watched him manage to outwit the 'hunters' – a team of former detectives and private investigators – by being on the run and staying under the radar for a fortnight without being tracked down.
The Channel 4 programme was filmed for the Stand Up for Cancer charity.
It was a far cry from the glitz of the ballroom circuit for AJ, short for Alex Joseph, who learned to dance at his parents' dance school, Pritchard's Dance and Fitness Academy in Burleydam, near Whitchurch.
He was coached by his father Adrian and, with dance partner Chloe Hewitt first came to fame on ITV's Britain's Got Talent in 2013, where they made the semi-finals.
Assistance
AJ, who now lives near Nantwich, won Celebrity Hunted alongside MP and former soldier Johnny Mercer, 37. They both managed to evade capture from a team that had tracking powers including access to phone tapping technology, CCTV and number plate recognition.
The 24-year-old Strictly Come Dancing professional had assistance from various family members throughout the duration of the series and often used his knowledge of Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire to conceal his whereabouts.
AJ said he went on the show after a dancing mentor who helped him on his road to stardom died of cancer.
He also wept on camera as he spoke of the difficulty of being unable to speak to his mother Debi.
Shortly before successfully completing his two weeks on the run, he said: “Mum is the only person I haven’t seen for two weeks. If I saw her now I’d probably burst into tears. I don’t even know why, maybe just because it has been stressful and it has been tiring and I haven’t been able to talk to her and she’s the person I would talk to every day."
AJ has been paired for this year's Strictly with paratriathlete Lauren Steadman. They travel to Blackpool for the BBC show this weekend.
