Strictly star Tasha Ghouri’s dad hits back at ‘fix’ claims as he says he’s ‘fed up’ ngocc

STRICTLY’S Tasha Ghouri has been fiercely defended by her proud dad after it was claimed the star had an unfair advantage. 

The former Love Island star took to the dancefloor for the first time last week alongside pro partner Aljaz Skorjanec, impressing with their cha cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter. 

However, some viewers were quickly to pour cold water on Tasha’s impressive efforts – which landed her second on the leaderboard – over claims she’d had previous “professional training”. 

But her dad, Tarek, hit back at fans on social media, noting that other stars on the show have just as much – if not more – of an advantage. 

In a response to one fan, according to The Mirror, he wrote: "I'm getting a little fed up of hearing this, tbh. Her dance style is NOT Latin or ballroom. 

“The dances are as alien to her as they are to you or I. 

“Training is mostly via lip reading and hearing a robotic voice in one of her ears, nothing in the other. Add to that her hearing loss (which itself comes with balance issues due to the sensory hairs in her cochlear being damaged at birth) and I can tell you she has a challenge actually worse than some others in there.” 

"Who, may I add, are also dance trained - such as Sarah [Hadland] who worked as a pro dancer on cruise ships, JB [Gill] who was dancing with JLS as a pop group, Jamie [Borthwick] who learned to dance at acting school.” 

“The person with the biggest challenge is Chris [McCausland],” he added. “But Tasha certainly does not have it the easiest."

As a teen, Tasha – now 26 – learned the style of commercial dance at the Creative Academy in Slough. 

Commercial dance is often used in pop music videos and musical theatre productions, rather than in a ballroom. 

Speaking ahead of her debut, Tasha explained that as a result, her training had little effect on her ability to learn these new ballroom routines. 

“Commercial dance is very different to ballroom dance and latin, I’m still having to strip down and relearn," she told The Independent.

"Even walking in cha cha step is weird to me – you have to turn out your feet and lead with your hips, so it’s based on muscle memory.” 

This week, she will be performing a Viennese Waltz to Misty Blue by Dorothy Moore.

Strictly Come Dancing returns tonight at 6.30pm on BBC One.