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Strictly in fix row as Tasha Ghouri wins 30 points despite professional dance training

Strictly in fix row as Tasha Ghouri wins 30 points despite professional dance training

STRICTLY’s Tasha Ghouri has been hit with a “fix” cry over her professional training background.

The Love Island star shot to second on the leaderboard on Saturday night alongside Aljaz Skorjanec after their cha cha to Espresso by Sabrina Carpenter.

Aljaz and Tasha impressed the judges with her fancy footwork on the first live show

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Aljaz and Tasha impressed the judges with her fancy footwork on the first live showCredit: PA
The duo scored 30 out of 40 in their first week

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The duo scored 30 out of 40 in their first weekCredit: Eroteme

The pair scored an impressive 30 points, making them joint with Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola.

However, fans thought it was unfair as Tasha had a history of dance training before the BBC series.

They later took to X to write about their frustrations.

“Tasha getting all high scores but sure she’s a professional dancerbit unfair,” wrote one.

Another questioned: “Isn’t Tasha Ghouri a professional dancer? Wasn’t that a thing when she was in Love Island?”

“I love tasha but she isn’t meant to be on the show because she is already a PROFESSIONAL DANCER.” wrote another.

However, others jumped to her defense, with one noting: “shes not ballroom or latin trained though, there are multiple ‘trained’ dancers on the show”

The judges were in awe of the performance, praising her skill and ability so quickly into the competition – with Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse even giving the pair 8s in the first week.

“What a way to introduce yourself!” said an impressed Motsi, who told her to keep things up as she’s set the bar high.

“You’re on your way to have one of the most spectacular leg actions I’ve ever seen on the show,” said Shirley Ballas, though noted they were “not there yet”.

Tasha Ghouri behind-the-scenes Fabulous shoot

Tasha trained in commercial dance at the Creative Academy in Slough before entering Love Island, and later competed in dance competitions.

“Commercial dance is very different to ballroom dance and latin, I’m still having to strip down and relearn, 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,” she told The Independent ahead of her debut on the show.

“Even letting a man take the lead is a lot.”

Anton said they were “absolutely fabulous” and added that Aljaz’s enthusiasm was also obvious now he’s back on the dancefloor.

Craig welcomed Aljaz back, saying they “slay, slay, slayed” the routine.

Tasha was narrowly beaten to the top of by JB Gill and Amy Dowden, who wowed and scored 31 points with their waltz to When I Need You by Leo Sayer.

Strictly Week One Scoreboard

Here’s how the first week scoreboard looked:

  1. JB and Amy = 31
  2. Tasha and Aljaz = 30
  3. Sarah and Vito = 30
  4. Wynne and Katya = 26
  5. Montell and Johannes = 26
  6. Shayne and Nancy = 23
  7. Jamie and Michelle = 23
  8. Chris and Dianne = 23
  9. Sam and Nikita = 21
  10. Dr Punam and Gorka = 19
  11. Tom and Nadiya = 18
  12. Nick and Luba = 18
  13. Pete and Jowita = 17
  14. Paul and Karen = 17
  15. Toyah and Neil = 12
While fans praised the routine, fans thought she had an unfair advantage

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While fans praised the routine, fans thought she had an unfair advantageCredit: PA
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Chris McCausland won over the hearts of viewers with his incredible routine to The BeatlesCredit: PA
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The series brought back the fun of the much-loved show despite facing scandalCredit: BBC