Strictly’s Tasha Ghouri has opened up about being targeted by bullies during her school days – and revealed the show helps her ‘prove them wrong’.
The Love Island star, 26, is getting the last laugh with her success on the show after being bullied for being deaf while growing up.
Tasha was born deaf and had her cochlear implant when she was five years old. She later made history as the first ever deaf contestant on Love Island in 2022, where she made it to the final with her boyfriend Andrew Le Page.
She has a large fan base supporting her on the dance show and the star is vocally passionate about raising awareness for the deaf community.
Speaking of her bullies, the Strictly competition told The Daily Star: ‘When I was being bullied, I always thought: “One day I will prove you guys wrong.”
Strictly’s Tasha Ghouri has opened up about being targeted by bullies during her school days – and revealed the show helps her ‘prove them wrong’
The Love Island star, 26, is getting the last laugh with her recent success after being bullied for being deaf while growing up
‘It’s great to be able to say I’ve done that with Strictly. I’m so glad I never let the bullies hold me back.
‘I’m so much stronger now. That has always been my motivation: to do better and work even harder.’
Tasha opened up about the tough times in her younger years and revealed that she was the only deaf person at her school.
She explained that the cyberbullying was so bad that teachers had to get involved.
But now the reality star is having the last laugh by shooting to new heights of fame on the BBC show.
Tasha received a standing ovation in week one and was near the top of the leaderboard with her Cha Cha Cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter with partner Aljaz Skorjanec, who returned to the show.
Head judge Shirley Ballas said the reality star has ‘the most spectacular leg actions she’s ever seen on this show’ and was given a whopping 30 points by the judges.
Motsi Mabuse agreed with Shirley, saying Tasha “started here, so high you can’t fall any lower now.”
Now the reality star is having the last laugh by shooting to new heights of fame on the BBC show
Tasha and Aljaz are one of fifteen participating couples in the upcoming series of Strictly Come Dancing
Tasha received a standing ovation in week one and was near the top of the leaderboard with her Cha Cha Cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter with partner Aljaz Skorjanec, who returned to the show
Head judge Shirley Ballas said the reality star has ‘the most spectacular leg actions she’s ever seen on this show’ and was given a whopping 30 points by the judges
In February, Tasha discussed the importance of normalizing deaf accents, revealing she was trolled over her voice on Love Island
While Anton Du Beke said: ‘You are amazing and I looked at Aljaz who said “this is amazing”, I’m looking forward to watching you’.
Meanwhile, stern judge Craig had just three words for Tasha as he said: ‘Death, death, death.’
After the performance, Aljaz admitted, “the potential is amazing and I think I’m struggling with it more than you are at the moment.”
In February, Tasha discussed the importance of normalizing deaf accents, revealing she was trolled over her voice on Love Island.
During an appearance on Lorraine, she revealed that when she took her implant out, viewers noticed her voice changed and she was hit with a barrage of online abuse.
Tasha explained: ‘When I have my implant in I can hear my voice, but when I take it out I hear a vibration from my throat.
‘I can’t hear what tone it is or how loud. It’s weird because when I turn it back on it goes back to my normal voice.
“When I was on the show, I actually had a lot of ability [online] about my voice and not many people understood why I spoke the way I did.’
She continued, “That was probably the main trolling I got from it. TikToks are made about my voice and take out the microphone.
“That’s why, when I came out, I still accepted that I had to come to terms with that and that’s why I felt like this was the right time to explain why my voice might sound different.”