Strictly pro Aljaž Škorjanec – one of this weekend’s finalists – made a triumphant return to the BBC this year, but his future on the show currently hangs in the balance.
Aljaž has always been a fan favourite. Among his and Tasha Ghouri‘s many achievements is a perfect 40 score, which they earned for an American Smooth to Lewis Capaldi’s Someone You Loved.
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał faced Tasha and Aljaž in the dance-off last week, and came off the worse.
So it’s bye-bye Pete and Jowita – hello Aljaž and Tasha. But will Aljaž be back next year? That’s a question he only has a cryptic answer for.
Aljaž Škorjanec’s future on Strictly depends on daughter Lyra
Dancer Aljaž told Metro that a major deciding factor on which his future on Strictly Come Dancing depends largely on his one-year-old daughter Lyra.
“It’s up to her,” he told the paper when asked about Strictly 2025. “Obviously, with being a dad, there is a new aspect of my life that wasn’t there before for nine years.”
It made me be a better dad, and it makes me be a better Strictly pro.
He added that, despite having so much more on his plate, he found himself with greater focus this year. He’s more organised, too. And it enabled him to feel better prepared for anything that came with Strictly.
“Because if I’m not with Lyra and if I am here, then I’m going to do it 150%. Because otherwise, what is the point? Otherwise, I just want to be home. It puts things into a massive perspective, and it made me be a better dad, and it makes me be a better Strictly pro.”
‘I don’t like saying goodbye’
Regardless of whether or not he’s back next year, he feels sure that he’ll return eventually. And that’s because he doesn’t like goodbyes.
“I don’t like saying goodbye,” he said, explaining that he never says goodbye to people, even it means ‘see you tomorrow’.
He also added that this year has been a “beautiful little start” to a great friendship with partner Tasha Ghouri.
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Toll on Janette
Aljaž’s time away from home has taken its toll on his wife Janette, although their relationship seems as strong as ever. She’s a former Strictly pro herself, so she knows how demanding – and rewarding – the show can be.
However, while Aljaž has been working on this season without her, she said she’s had moments where she feels like a single parent because of how “crazy” his schedule has been.
The hardest part, she said, has been the travelling. Taking the train down to London for her role on It Takes Two has been draining. Because of Aljaž’s schedule, she added, she occasionally feels like a single parent.
That doesn’t mean she holds it against him, or that he hasn’t been supportive. She said she doesn’t think she would have been able to parent Lyra without him. During one particularly exhausting day, she explained, Aljaž drove three and a half hours from London to see her. He helped her for three hours and then drove back down to London on the same day.
“That is the husband that really cares about his family,” she said.
Strictly finalists’ dances this weekend
This weekend, Strictly finalists Tasha and Aljaz will perform three routines. One will be picked by the judges, one by the couple themselves and one will be their showdance.
Read more: Strictly viewers in tears as Aljaz makes admission about daughter Lyra
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