Strictly's AJ: It now feels "weird" dancing with somebody with two arms
Pro dancer AJ Pritchard is paired with Paralympian Lauren Steadman on the show, who is missing her lower right arm
Strictly Come Dancing pro AJ Pritchard has become so used to doing ballroom with Paralympian Lauren Steadman that he’s almost forgotten how to dance with someone who has two arms.
Lauren – who has been a hit with the public, having managed to completely avoid the dreaded dance-off for the past eleven weeks – is missing her lower right arm, meaning AJ has been specially choreographing routines in order to adapt.
And AJ has now trained with Lauren so much that he finds it “weird” dancing with somebody with two arms, the pair told RadioTimes.com.
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“I went to take up a ballroom hold with someone just to go over one step,” revealed AJ, “and it was so weird having another hand there, because my body has become so accustomed to dancing with Lauren that my brain couldn’t comprehend that there should have been a hand there – or shouldn’t.”
“See, two hands are overrated,” laughed Lauren.
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AJ went on to explain that they have always treated Lauren’s missing arm as an advantage and an opportunity for him to be more creative with his choreography.
“Lauren is a glass half full kind of person and when we do a lift or do something that would be harder, we always do it our own way so therefore it’s unique. No one would ever do it like us, so it looks a bit different.
“I always think of that as a positive. Rather than thinking, ‘Oh well, we can’t do it the normal way.’ Who wants to do it the normal way? That’s boring.”
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 8th December at 6:35pm on BBC1
