BBC Strictly Come dancing Tasha Ghouri's emotional confession - 'had nowhere to escape to'

Strictly Come Dancing and former Love Island's Tasha Ghouri has revealed her constant struggles during an overwhelming period when she needed a place to go and escape to

Despite what the public may have believed, Strictly’s Tasha Ghouri wasn’t being a drama queen during an emotional time that was aired on TV, she was "exhausted" from constantly having to perform for the cameras.

Reality star Tasha Ghouri is currently competing as a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing. Although her previous experience as a dancer has led to criticism of an unfair advantage over the other celebrities, she’s been regularly topping the leaderboard with professional partner Aljaž Škorjanec.

Aljaž’s real life partner, wife Janette Manrara, who appeared on Strictly for eight series as a pro has revealed what she thinks of Tasha’s chances: "She's going to do great with the dancing, because she's quite capable, but she has to learn how to let go," she said. "She needs to really loosen herself up and let go. I think her journey is going to be letting go of perfection."

Tasha, 26, has always had a battle on her hands after she was born deaf. She had a cochlear implant just before her fifth birthday and used sign language before undergoing speech therapy. The model and dancer shot to fame when she appeared in the 2022 series of ITV ’s Love Island.

She has previously discussed how her deafness causes migraines and she can become exhausted from reading lips. The sensory overload means she often needs to take some time out to recuperate but that isn’t always possible and will presumably be difficult with the intense training involved in Strictly. Talking to The Sun during Deaf Awareness Week last year, Tasha shared: "The constant migraines, the headaches, going to events, having to always do interviews at events, having to always be active - sometimes my brain wants to shut down completely."

Tasha also spoke about how she faced this problem during her time on Love island and how she longed for a place to go and rest away from the cameras and the constant chats the contestants were encouraged to have all day. "On the show, going to sleep at 3 or 4am, waking up just before lunch, we're so sleep deprived and we're always having to have conversations," she said.

"That's why a lot of the time I was quite emotional because I was going through my own stuff at the time, having to listen to conversations, lip-reading; it really does take it out of you. That's why by the end of the night I was so out of it." She added: "We didn't really have that place to escape to. There wasn't a place I could go and be emotional, cry my eyes out and just nap to get my energy back. Maybe that's something they could change."

Tasha, who is in a long-term relationship with Andrew Le Page, who she met on the show and came fourth with, said she wasn’t happy with how her emotional state was being portrayed. "I was painted out to be this girl who's not a great person, at the start," she revealed. "When I look back it was annoying for me because I couldn't say to the cameras 'this is why I'm feeling this and that', and I feel that got manipulated in some ways. I wasn't being dramatic. I wasn't being over the top or making drama for no reason. I was exhausted and being in the sun all day as well, it is a lot. I wish that was highlighted more, 100 percent."

She believes another reason she was so teary was because she was often in the bottom three and felt like "a failure" who was letting her parents and the deaf community down. Despite this she knows it was a "groundbreaking moment for the TV industry" and hopes shows like Love Island continue to expand their representation when selecting contestants.

Who do you think will win Strictly this year? Let us know in the comments below.