Tasha Ghouri and dad Tarek(Image: Wikibiography)

Tasha Ghouri's furious dad hits back at Strictly critics saying he's "fed up" of attacks

Tarek Ghouri has leaped to his daughter's defence after fans claimed she shouldn't be on the BBC show

28 Sep 2024, 13:19 by Laura Armstrong · The Mirror

Tasha Ghouri's dad has hit back at the Strictly star's critics in a furious rant, insisting the routines are completely "alien" to her.

Responding to a Strictly fan suggesting Tasha's dance experience should have ruled her out of the BBC show, Tarek Ghouri leaped to his daughter's defence. And he raged that fellow stars Sarah Hadland, JB Gill and Jamie Borthwick all have a greater advantage than her on the dance floor.

He wrote: "I'm getting a little fed up of hearing this, tbh. Her dance style is NOT Latin or ballroom. The dances are as alien to her as they are to you or I. Training is mostly via lip reading and hearing a robotic voice in one of her ears, nothing in the other. Add to that her hearing loss (which itself comes with balance issues due to the sensory hairs in her cochlear being damaged at birth) and I can tell you she has a challenge actually worse than some others in there.

Tasha Ghouri on Strictly( Image: BBC/Ray Burmiston)

Tasha at the Joker: Folie A Deux premiere( Image: PA)

"Who, may I add, are also dance trained - such as Sarah who worked as a pro dancer on cruise ships, JB who was dancing with JLS as a pop group, Jamie who learned to dance at acting school. The person with the biggest challenge is Chris (McCauseland) but Tasha certainly does not have it the easiest." Love Island star Tasha, 26, who trained as a dancer at the Creative Academy in Slough, this week took on the Viennese Waltz to Misty Blue by Dorothy Moore.

Since joining the show the reality star, who is paired with Aljaz Skorjanec, has opened up about being targeted by bullies during her school days - and revealed that the show is helping her "prove them wrong". She told the Daily Star: "When I was being bullied, I always thought: 'One day I'll prove you all wrong.' So being able to say I've done that with Strictly is amazing. I'm so pleased that I never let the bullies stop me. I'm so much stronger now. That's always been my motivation, to do better and work even harder."

Strictly Come Dancing airs tonight at 6.15pm on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer.

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