Strictly's AJ Pritchard Opens Up About Brutal Nightclub Attack

Strictly Come Dancing professional AJ Pritchard and his brother Curtis have spoken out for the first time since they were brutally attacked at a nightclub.

The brothers appeared on This Morning to talk about what happened to them when they were beaten up by eight men during a night out in Nantwich on 27th December.

Curtis, who needed surgery on his leg as a result of the attack, admitted he would've ended up 'a lot worse' if AJ hadn't been there.

"We were minding our own business, having one of the best nights out ever, I just had a push to my right," Curtis recalled.

AJ added: "By the time he went to look who had pushed him he was punched, blindsided from the right."

Curtis continued: "I'm lucky AJ was there. If I was still stood where I was, I would have been in a worse way.

"He managed to get me to safety. We weren't there for trouble. We wanted to have a good time.

"Once it all happened the first thing I thought was 'we're in trouble. AJ is in trouble, we need to protect ourselves'. We weren't there to fight."

AJ explained: "The adrenalin kicked in and you just protect each other as family and brothers. Seeing him getting kicked multiple times, I just wanted to get both of us out as soon as possible."

Curtis has since been forced to pull out of his appearance on Dancing With The Stars after tearing the cartilage in his knee during the attack.

He told hosts Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford: "It's three weeks before I can walk on it and four to five before I can start dancing on it."

When asked if he thought the attackers had purposely put him out of action in the run up to the dancing competition, Curtis replied: "I would hate to say that [they were jealous] because it's a horrible thought, to intentionally want to harm someone. I don't know."

AJ admitted the whole experience had left him 'very aware of putting myself in a scenario of larger crowds'.

He said: "The really sad thing is we were just out to have a good time, to see each other as brothers, it came from nowhere. There was no us causing any hassle."

Topics: Celebrity News, Celebrity Entertainment

Emma Rosemurgey

Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Junior Journalist at Tyla. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining the team in 2017. Contact her on [email protected]

@emmarosemurgey