Oti Mabuse revealed she thinks AJ Pritchard is ‘scared’ as she revisited AJ Pritchard’s participation on Dancing With The Stars in the US.
AJ has reached the final of Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro, in which twelve professional dancers compete for a spot on the US reality show.
Last month Oti, who starred in BBC’s Strictly alongside AJ, weighed in on joining the show when she said he had ‘rubbed people the wrong way’ during Strictly.
And once again she spoke out about the star, suggesting he is ‘scared’ and acting like he ‘doesn’t feel good enough’.
Participate in a Q&A on her TikTok while she signs up face mask she said:There is a lot. I’m going to talk about two different people – but this is the same person: I’m going to talk about AJ the person and AJ the professional.
“AJ the professional is skilled what he brings to the dance floor cannot be taken away, that cannot be denied. It’s a skill, it’s a talent; it is a strength of his, it is a tool.
Oti Mabuse has revealed she thinks AJ Pritchard is ‘scared’ as she rewatched the Strictly dancer as she weighed in on him as he competed on Dancing With The Stars in the US.
The star, as she suggested, is “scared” and acting out because he “doesn’t feel good enough (AJ seen crying while on the show)
“If you hire someone who is going to teach you celebrities how to dance and get the best out of them and produce incredible numbers for you week after week, then that’s who you get.
“I think you have to be the person in the room to experience it because there’s a level where he’s very professional, he keeps it cute, he keeps it motivated – he’s really into mental wellness and mental endurance, which we really love. There is also a deeper level that is quite strong.”
She continued, “But now, on the show, I can really see… I think he’s really scared.
“Whatever he does and says comes from a place of fear and a desire to be good enough, which essentially means he may not feel like he’s good enough.
“So he pushes and he’s right to push… but it’s the way he pushes, the methods, the communication, the words he chooses.”
She added: “I’ve never been part of Dancing With The Stars, but culturally the work culture in America with the audience, the pros and the celebrities is a completely different work culture than we have here.
‘But if you want to survive and cross from pond to pond, it doesn’t matter which way you go… you have to get to know the work culture of the place and how and what makes the people tick.
“And so I don’t think what worked in Britain will work in America…maybe it might be palatable to a different audience.”
AJ has reached the final of Dancing With The Stars: The Next Pro, which sees twelve professional dancers compete for a spot on the US reality show
Oti concluded: ‘It’s going to be hard for him to come back from this because this was his second chance… it’s going to be hard for a lot of people to warm up to him now.
‘If he wins it will be difficult… but would he be the first controversial pro we’ve ever had? No.’
Last month, Oti claimed not everyone focused on AJ when he was on Strictly and suggested his ‘personality’ was a problem.
When asked if it was “fair” that AJ got a chance on The Next Pro, Oti said, “I actually like this one because it asks about AJ. That man is so controversial.
“It’s so funny, I don’t even know how to put this into words. And maybe he misled a lot of people with his personality, right? We can admit that too,” she said candidly.
‘The way he comes out in public and says he wants British dancers in a British show because Strictly is Britain…’
Oti referred to comments made by AJ during an interview with The Sun, where he said: ‘I think, worryingly, I would like to see more British dancers in the show.
“We’re in Britain, I’m proud to be British, and there are so many fantastic boys and girls who would love to have this opportunity. So really regionally it would support the country that we are proud of. I personally would like to see that.’
She directly addressed his comments, saying: ‘The most popular professionals on Strictly aren’t British. I’m talking about Aljaz, I’m talking about Giovanni, I’m talking about Janette.
“Even now, Vito, Nikita, Alexis, Katya. Even back in the day, we went for Vincent Simone, for Ola Jordan, for Kristina Rihanoff, for Natalie Lowe. Those are the legends. And they’re not British.’
‘So you can imagine that that would have gone down the wrong way with many people. And also: Strictly is different. From all brands, all brands.
‘No, we are global. Our professionals are global because that global mix makes us beautiful and special.’
“Not British, and so he went away and left the biggest brand, and he was just really terrible about it. So that could rub a lot of people the wrong way,” she added about AJ.
“He left and he decided, okay, maybe now I’ve matured, I’ve grown and I’d like another chance. Do I think he should now try to go for the American one? Yeah, maybe that might be better for him. Maybe his personality is a little more palatable there.”
