
From dance floors to soap sets: Inside Curtis & AJ Pritchard’s tight-knit bond
If you see one Pritchard brother the other one isn’t far behind
Curtis and AJ Pritchard have always had this slightly strange symbiotic relationship, and if one of them was around, you could guarantee the other one wouldn’t be far behind.
The brothers grew up in Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent, with estranged mum Debi and father Adrian. They both later attended The White House School in Whitchurch and went back there to teach choreography in 2019 for charity.
Of course, most of us were first introduced to Curtis when he was featured on season 5 of Love Island in 2019 as his brother was doing the foxtrot on Strictly Come Dancing. Once Curtis wrangled his own 15 minutes, the dynamic duo appeared in everything from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK to Celebs Go Dating.
Though they do feature extensively on one another’s Instagrams and seem to do everything together, here’s what we know about the brothers.
They both have a mutual love of dancing
Both of the Pritchard brothers have a clear love of dancing, having both started at a young age despite their parents not wanting them to get famous. In 2017, Curtis signed on to Dancing with the Stars, partnering with Thalia Heffernan, Norah Casey, and briefly with Holly Carpenter before being pulled from the competition due to an injury.
Meanwhile, AJ has been a staple on Strictly Come Dancing since 2016. Over the years, he has partnered with Claudia Fragapane, Mollie King, Lauren Steadman, and Saffron Barker.
They also brought their dance skills to a touring production, though that flopped when the pandemic forced everything to close down.
They’ve dealt with debt in the last few years
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As Curtis suns it up in South Africa, AJ has been supporting him from home with congratulatory comments on Instagram and shade directed toward Ekin-Su. In an interview with the MailOnline in January, he opened up about the secret debt troubles they had been grappling with.
“We paid all of our dancers because, personally, I felt like that was the right thing to do. We ended up with a VAT bill which came out of our own pocket,” he said. “We didn’t get paid, myself or Curtis, but we paid all of our dancers. It’s a hard decision to make, but that’s what it is when you are running your own company.”
To combat this, the boys set up their own financial investment company called FINT. They are hoping to acquire a government grant to help “educate” people on finances.
That Hollyoaks cameo deserves its own section
Back in 2021, Hollyoaks cast AJ and Curtis as twin brothers Marco and Jacob, and while the brief cameos certainly drew in viewing numbers, it wasn’t for a good reason. Not only were their acting abilities slammed as wooden, but actors condemned casting them when other people were looking for work.
Still, Curtis told OK Magazine: “Up to this moment I felt absolutely nothing about it because I hadn’t realised anybody had said anything. We always get that, we always get different things and for me it’s always about positivity.”
“I’ve learned to go for the positives and not the negatives. If someone’s got constructive criticism, 100 per cent that’s great, but if it’s just negativity then it’s not something I’m going to waste my energy and time on that,” AJ added.
They come to each other’s defence quite often
Their brothers have a long history of defending one another but no moment was more horrific than their nightclub attack in 2018. It occurred during a Boxing Day night out in Nantwich at the Nakatcha club, with Curtis suffering injuries to his face and legs.
“I couldn’t put any weight on my knee, and the first thing that’s going through my head was, ‘Oh my gosh, my dancing career, gone. Finished’,” Curtis said at the time.
In more recent moments, When the relationship between Ekin-Su and Curtis broke down in season two of Love Island All Stars, we all collectively gasped when she emptied the contents of her glass on her former boyfriend. AJ did not take not hold back and even called for her to be removed from the show.
“If it was a guy doing that to a girl, they’d probably be removed from the show. It wasn’t on his face; it was on his legs,” he said on Instagram. “But certain actions, like that, are childish. Whatever heated debate or argument you’re having, it’s bad.”
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Featured image credit: AJ/Curtis Pritchard