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Louise Thomas
Editor
Tasha Ghouri’s father stole the show during Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing show as he sobbed his way through his daughter’s performance.
As 26-year-old Ghouri and her pro partner Aljaž Škorjanec took to the floor to perform the Viennese Waltz to “Misty Blue” by Dorothy Moore, she looked elegant in a cobalt blue ballgown as she floated across the dancefloor.
Head judge Shirley Ballas remarked it was the “dance of the night” and said it made her “quite emotional”.
During the judges’ feedback, Anton Du Beke said Ghouri was faultless: “Give us a chance, I wanted a fault so I could mark you down, seamless flow, immaculate frame, gorgeous footwork.”
Craig Revel Horwood also called it the “dance of the night”. Meanwhile, Motsi Mabuse said: “Love watching you, you brought us in, keep it up, amazing.”
They were awarded the first nines of the series, receiving eight, nine, nine and nine, scoring a total of 35 points. Their score was the highest ever for a Viennese Waltz in week two of the competition in Strictly history.
However, host Claudia Winkleman remarked that she found it hard to concentrate on the dance because Ghouri’s father, Tarek, was sobbing in the front row.
“What made us all quite emotional was your dad who was sobbing,” Winkleman told Ghouri after her dance.
Ghouri replied, “I did say he was gonna cry,” to which Winkleman said: “It wasn’t a gentle cry. He was really crying watching his baby girl.”
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The former Love Island star said she loved performing this week’s dance, and that it holds a “special place” in her heart.
While the feedback was wholly positive in the Strictly studios, Ghouri has been subject to criticism for her prior dance experience.
Before she became a finalist on the 2022 season of Love Island, Ghouri trained as a dancer at Creative Academy in Slough and has since competed at major dance events. She specialises in commercial, which is a broader style of dance popularly seen in music videos or on stage at music tours.
Speaking to The Independent and other journalists at a roundtable event ahead of the new series, Ghouri explained that the ballroom technique is completely different to the training she received at dance school.
“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.
“Even letting a man take the lead is a lot.”
Speaking about whether she is anticipating backlash due to her previous training, Ghouri said that she signed up for the show to make her family proud, and is looking forward to a positive experience.
“I’ve gotta block out that noise and luckily I’ve been in this industry for two years and I’ve grown so much stronger after Love Island – there was so much negativity,” she said. “[Strictly] is my dream. It’s something I’ve dreamt of for so long. So I’m doing this for me and my family and my partner.”
