Alex Joseph Pritchard, best known by his stage moniker AJ Pritchard, is an English professional dancer and choreographer. He had his first major brush with fame in 2013 when he took part in the 7th series of the talent show competition Britain’s Got Talent. He had a pretty impressive run in the competition as he made it to the semifinal alongside his longtime dance partner Chloe Hewitt. In recent times, Pritchard has come to be known for his performance on the BBC One dance contest Strictly Come Dancing having joined the show in 2016.
Who is AJ Pritchard?
Alex Joseph Pritchard was born on the 5th day of November 1994, in the Stoke-on-Trent city of Staffordshire, England. His parents are Debi and Adrian Pritchard and he grew up alongside one sibling, a brother named Curtis. Starting from a very young age, he began to hone his dancing skills at Pritchard’s Dance and Fitness Academy, a dance school run by his parents. He eventually began dancing competitively from the age of twelve.
Pritchard formed an early partnership with Chloe Hewitt and together, they are known as “AJ & Chloe”. The duo has represented their home country of Britain at various dance championships across the globe. Among several notable accomplishments, AJ & Chloe won the National Youth Latin Championships for 3 successive years (2012-14). In 2015, this successful dance duo clinched both the British Open Youth Latin Championship and the European Youth Latin Championship of the World DanceSport Federation (WDSF).
Back in 2013, AJ Pritchard and his dance partner opted to take their dance prowess to the world of showbiz and television by auditioning for Series Seven of Britain’s Got Talent. They put up a good performance on the show and were able to reach the live semi-finals.
Pritchard got signed in 2016 as a professional dancer on the BBC dance contest Strictly Come Dancing. For the 14th series of the show, he was paired with Olympic gymnast Claudia Fragapane and they finished in the 4th position. For the 15th series, his celebrity partner was Mollie King, a music star who was part of the British pop group ‘The Saturdays’. Together, they finished 5th overall on the show. In 2018, Pritchard partnered with Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman for the 16th series of Strictly Come Dancing and they equally finished in 5th place.
Brother
Interestingly, AJ Pritchard is not the only member of his family with amazing dancing talents as his younger brother Curtis is also an expert dancer and choreographer. Just like his older brother, Curtis Pritchard has also represented the UK at several World and European Championships and has featured in the Irish version of Dancing with the Stars since 2017.
Sadly, AJ Pritchard and his brother Curtis fell victim to an unprovoked night club attack on December 27, 2018. Both brothers were left with varying degrees of injuries with Curtis going in for an emergency knee surgery.
Relationship Status
From the information available to the public, AJ Pritchard appears to be single. Though he lives the greater part of his life in the spotlight, the pro dancer has managed to keep this aspect of his private life under wraps. However, there have been several speculations in the past regarding Pritchard’s love life.
In 2017, Pritchard was reported to have been in a relationship with Mollie King, his Strictly Come Dancing partner at the time. The pair were known to have an impeccable dance floor chemistry during their time on the show which later blossomed into a real-life friendship but they never confirmed if their relationship was exclusive. The romance rumours were eventually brought to an end when Mollie began dating England cricketer Stuart Broad.
AJ Pritchard has also been linked with British Paralympic athlete Lauren Steadman who was his co-contestant on Strictly Come Dancing in 2018. However, there was no confirmation from any of the parties involved.
Who is The Partner or Girlfriend? Is He Gay?
While the true details of AJ Pritchard’s dating history continue to elude the media, there is also some level of uncertainty regarding the pro dancer’s sexuality. While he has only been linked to people of the opposite sex in the past, Pritchard is known to have garnered much admiration from the LGBT community since he joined Strictly Come Dancing in 2016.
Beyond these contrasting factors, it is interesting to know that Pritchard prefers to keep his sexuality ambiguous. In a 2018 interview, the award-winning dancer revealed that there is no need for him to define his sexual preferences.
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