AJ Pritchard is one of the dancers competing in the first season of Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro this summer. This isn’t his first time on reality TV, in fact, it’s not his first time competing on a television ballroom competition.
AJ is a well-known face to reality TV watchers in the UK, having already competed on their version of Dancing With The Stars. He joins 11 other pros vying for a spot on the DWTS ballroom when the show returns in the fall.
Who is AJ Pritchard and Where Have I Seen Him Before?
GettyAJ Pritchard, whose real name is Alex Joseph Pritchard, made his television debut in 2013 when he made it to the finals of Britain’s Got Talent. AJ started dancing at the age of 12 and competed with Chloe Hewitt, who also competed on BGT.
In 2016, he joined season 14 of Strictly Come Dancing, the UK version of Dancing With The Stars. He is their youngest male pro dancer in the show’s history.
On his first season, he was paired with gymnast Claudia Fragapane, where he finished in fourth. In season 15, AJ danced with pop star Mollie King and the year with Olympian Lauren Steadman, where he finished fifth both times. In his final series, he finished sixth with influencer Saffron Barker.
During his time on Strictly Come Dancing, AJ was judged by Shirley Ballas, who also appears on Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro. Although he knew the judge before the show, as the Pritchard family has a long history of ballroom and Latin dancing competitions.
Outside of Strictly Come Dancing, he competed on the UK versions of Celebrity MasterChef, Hunted, and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, as well as The Challenge U.K., and Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins.
Outside of reality TV, Curtis also tried his hand at acting when he appeared in the English soap opera Hollyoaks alongside his brother Curtis. Their time on the long-running soap did become a meme, and not because of the award-worthy acting!
Why Did AJ Pritchard Leave Strictly Come Dancing
GettyAJ Pritchard left the BBC dance competition in 2020 to focus on his television career, admitting to The Sun that the reality show’s schedule had begun to take a toll. “It took up six months of my life, some days I would work 18-hour days because I was dancing and choreographing,” AJ explained. “I didn’t have a life and I wanted to be able to do more.”
He also, controversially, told the BBC that a perfect score “should never happen” on the show and that the top score should only ever be 9.5 as there’s “always room for improvement”.
Reality TV Runs In The Family
AJ’s brother, Curtis Pritchard, is also a well-known reality TV star in the UK. He followed in his brother’s footsteps as a Ballroom and Latin champion. He also completed the first two series of Ireland’s Dancing With the Stars,
More memorably, Curtis appeared on the fifth series of Love Island UK in 2019, where he met his ex-girlfriend Maura Higgins. Interestingly, Maura has already been announced as a contestant on the upcoming series of Dancing With The Stars. So, if AJ wins The Next Pro, things could be a bit awkward with Maura.
They couldn’t keep him away, Curtis also took part in Love Island Games, All Stars 2025 and All Stars series three.
AJ’s fiancée, Zara Zoffany, is also a reality TV vet. The couple met on the MTV reality series The Challenge in 2022 and confirmed their engagement in March 2026.
Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro, Series Premiere, Monday, July 13, 8/7c, ABC
