AJ Pritchard: ‘It was time’ Strictly professional’s former dance partner makes huge move

AJ Pritchard, 24, and Lauren Steadman, 26, reached the semi-finals together in Strictly Come Dancing together last year, but the Paralympian’s latest move appears to be influenced by an entirely different professional dancer from the BBC series. The athlete unveiled a brand new look on Instagram this week to her 85,000 followers, crediting AJ’s pal and colleague Neil Jones, 36, for inspiring her. Debuting her red locks in a selfie, the formerly brunette star wrote: “Decided it was time to bring back my Ginger move over @mr_njonesofficial “Thanks to the team team @tonywoodhair@prettyhorrific #hair #copperhair#gingerhair  

#newlook #hairdo#greeneyes #ginge #freshenup Make Up @lockwood_kate.”

Lauren wore her newly dyed tresses in bouncing curls, completing her glamorous look with long lashes and a white shoulder baring top. 

The Team GB member’s friends from Strictly were quick to comment on her beauty transformation.

Katya Jones’ husband Neil was among the first to provide feedback after being mentioned in Lauren’s caption.

The choreographer excitedly replied: “Yes girl embrace the ginger.”

His wife Katya, 29, then added her own opinion, describing Lauren’s hairdo as: “Absolutely stunning.”

Diane Buswell, 29, also joined her Strictly co-stars in the comments section, adding: “Looks great.”

Doctor Ranj Singh, 39, who appeared alongside Lauren in the Strictly 2018 celebrity lineup completed the series of compliments, writing: “Miss you!!” with a heart-eyed emoji.

AJ has yet to comment on the post, but he recently admitted to feeling “very protective” of Lauren following their stint in the dance competition.

The pair were at the centre of dating rumours when they danced together on the BBC show, but clarified that they are just friends.

The ballroom and latin expert revealed details about the nature of their close relationship to The Mirror, explaining: “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.”

In spite of how much the two enjoyed their partnership on Strictly, Lauren was unfortunately unable to join AJ on his UK tour.

During an interview with ITV news on a live Facebook stream, AJ 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.”

source: express.co.uk