Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Prtichard, 24, will travel around the UK as part of his imminent solo tour, but he revealed Paralympian Lauren Steadman, 26, will not be joining him. The dancing duo made it through to the semi-final on the BBC show last year, which was won by Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton. Despite becoming good friends on the show, AJ revealed Lauren will not be dancing with him on his tour due to her own work commitments. In an interview with ITV news on a live Facebook stream, AJ was quizzed on whether or not Lauren will be making an appearance on his tour.
He said: “Lauren told me she is travelling to Lanzarote to train for her world championships which is the olympics in Tokyo in 2020, so she is killing herself getting back to fitness.
“She’s a bit busy, but I’ll do a little live stream like we are doing now and she’ll love the show.”
During their stint on the show, the pair were at the centre of dating rumours.
AJ previously insisted they are just friends but admitted he is “very protective” of her.
He told The Mirror: “I am very protective of Lauren because we have worked so closely together.
“There are different things that she will talk about in training that she would never talk about on camera.
“It’s for that reason that we have grown so close together and we will be friends for life and who knows in the future.
“You never know what is going to happen.”
Meanwhile, AJ was recently pictured looking cosy with Love Island host Caroline Flack at the National Television Awards after-party.
Back in 2017, he was also rumoured to be dating his then dance partner Mollie King, which they denied.
Within the same interview with ITV news, AJ admitted he laughs at dating speculation involving him.
He said: “It is quite amusing sometimes to do a little Google search because you never know what is going to be the next thing.
“Especially after you go out to an event or you’re seen here with that person or… you often wonder ‘What’s going to be the next story?’
“Most of the time I just smile; I think it’s the best way to be about it… really just kind of enjoy it for what it is.
“Don’t take yourself too seriously, you’ve just got to have fun haven’t you.”
AJ was also quizzed on whether he will return to Strictly Come Dancing next year, to which he insisted he had not yet been asked.
The professional dancer was quizzed after his fellow dancer Pasha Kovalev revealed he has left the show after eight years.