Strictly's AJ reunites with partner Lauren Steadman after nightclub attack
The Strictly professional dancer admitted his whole family has been "shaken" by the assault, but that meeting up with Lauren was "a perfect way to get that smile back on my face"
Strictly Come Dancing's AJ Pritchard and his celebrity dance partner Lauren Steadman have been reunited, after AJ surprised Lauren during her interview on ITV's Lorraine.
AJ and his brother were recently assaulted inside a nightclub. During the show Lorraine had asked Lauren about the incident, before suggesting that they "find out" how AJ is doing — at which point the studio doors behind them opened to reveal the pro dancer himself.
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During the interview, AJ discussed the violent attack, which resulted in his brother Curtis, also a professional dancer, requiring surgery on his knee.
"It’s shaken up the family, that’s for sure," he said. "[Curtis] literally threw himself [in] to protect me and obviously in doing so took the full force of it. [He was] violently kicked and punched."
"[It's the] senseless violence, that’s what’s scary," he added.
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Lorraine also asked whether reports that AJ would be hiring a bodyguard for the Strictly Live tour were true, at which point Lauren interjected: "I'll be his bodyguard!"
"I wouldn’t want to get in her way, I’ve seen her in the studio," AJ laughed. "Very focussed." He later said on Instagram that surprising Lauren was "a perfect way to get that smile back on my face".
Both Lauren and AJ will be performing in the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour, which will take place in 29 different arenas across the country in January and February 2019, finishing with four shows at the O2 Arena in London on 9th and 10th February.
