Tasha Ghouri is currently strutting her stuff on Strictly Come Dancing 2024, joining the likes of JB Gill, Shayne Ward and Sarah Hadland in the BBC ballroom.
But when did she appear on Love Island? What rule did she break that caused her to get banned from social media? And why did she and Giovanni Pernice reportedly split?
Here’s everything you need to know about Strictly 2024 contestant Tasha Ghouri…
Who Strictly star Tasha Ghouri is
Tasha Ghouri is a reality star, dancer and model – who shot to fame after appearing in Love Island in 2022. On the ITV show, she made history as its first-ever deaf contestant.
During Love Island, she was coupled up with Andrew Le Page, a real estate agent from Guernsey. And despite their rollercoaster journey in the villa, the pair came in fourth place.
Following her villa stint, Tasha has gone from strength to strength career-wise, landing deals with eBay and L’Oreal.
She also has a podcast called Superpowers with Tasha and has turned her hand to writing, releasing two books, Your Superpower: Embrace what makes you different and Hits Different.
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Where Tasha Ghouri is from and how old she is
Tasha was born in Thirsk in North Yorkshire on August 11 1998, making her 26.
After graduating, budding dancer Tasha she headed to London, signed with a modelling agency and worked behind a bar – while also being a self-employed dancer.
And in 2020, Tasha bagged a role dancing in the music video for More Than Words by Sleepwalkrs featuring MNEK.
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Can Tasha Ghouri hear?
Tasha was born deaf into a hearing family. Aged five, she had a cochlear impact – a small device – fitted in her right ear, which allowed her to hear for the first time.
I’d wear my hair down to hide my implant and keep myself to myself.
“They [her parents] wanted me to experience the hearing world, to hear their voices. I had the operation at Bradford Hospital when I was five, and I’m still in touch with the surgeon today,” Tasha revealed to Financial Times in 2023.
Talking about how she felt as a teenager with a cochlear, Tasha said: “I used to beat myself down. I’d wear my hair down to hide my implant and keep myself to myself.”
And luckily, she had an outlet: Dancing. The star explained: “What made me confident was dancing.”
The implant itself does not cure deafness, but provides a useful sensation of hearing sound. The device works by allowing Tasha to receive and process sounds and speech. The implant doesn’t make you hear normally again, but it can help you with sounds.
She explained: “I can hear so much more. The kettle pinging, phone ringing and my dad’s sniffing – which drives me mad – but I can hear that now more than ever.”
Tasha Ghouri fluent in sign language
Tasha has been using British Sign Language since she was little. In 2022, Tasha urged others to learn a little sign language as it “goes a long way”.
“A lot of people never know how to approach people that are deaf or hearing impaired because they don’t know how to communicate,” Tasha told Newsbeat.
She added: “[You can be deaf-friendly] by learning basic British Sign Language, because if you just learn basic conversation, that really does go a long way.”
Tasha continued: “Always make sure your lips are based on them, because a lot of deaf [and] hearing-impaired people lip-read. Especially me, I’ll always look for you 24/7. Another thing is don’t cover your mouth!”
Strictly star Tasha Ghouri’s height
Tasha is officially 5ft 9in tall (175 cm), as stated on her Mass Talent modelling portfolio.
Tasha Ghouri and Andrew are still together
After meeting on Love Island, Tasha and Andrew have gone from strength to strength.
Just weeks after the show, the pair cemented their love for each other by opting to get matching rose tattoos. Tasha was inked on her neck, while Andrew got his tat on his hand.
And then it didn’t take long for the pair to move in with each other. In September 2022, it was revealed that they had moved into a lush two-bed apartment in east London.
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And in June last year, the pair ended up adopting a dog: an adorable pup called Luna. Announcing the news on Instagram, Tasha wrote: “We the cool dog parents now.
“Luna we love you so much! Thank you @aloradogrescue and Homeward bound for getting her to us safely, anyone looking to adopt I can’t recommend Alora dog rescue enough! Huge thank you.”
Tasha Ghouri wants to get engaged
Tasha and Andrew are not engaged – but according to Andrew, Tasha has been anything but subtle about her desire for him to get down on one knee.
Speaking to Goss.ie in July 2023 about engagement plans, Andrew said: “It is funny isn’t it? It’s cute, and [Tasha] talks about it every day.
“It’s not [dropping] hints, it’s ‘Give me a ring!'”, he joked about his girlfriend, before he added: “It’s all good, I do laugh it off.”
He continued: “Obviously we are in a really good position together, and we’re really happy with each other so I’m sure one day it will happen. She just needs to wait and be patient.”
Banned from social media after major rule break
In April last year, Tasha found herself in hot water after one of her TikTok posts was banned for breaching advertising rules.
The video, captioned: “POV you’re doing what you’re passionate about using my voice,” gave fans a glimpse into her post-reality show life. But the post banned due to a small oversight.
Tasha was paid by EMI Records to use the song Hold Me Closer Joel Corry Remix by Elton John & Britney Spears in the video. She wrote alongside the video which was taken down at the time: “#TinyDancer #HoldMeCloser soundad.”
ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) believed the fact that the video was an advert hadn’t been promoted enough. However, EMI Records argued that it was clearly marked and said they asked their influencers to use ‘soundad’ on their videos to show it was an advertisement.
ASA ruled it wasn’t suitable and said: “We considered, however, it unlikely that all UK TikTok users would understand the meaning of the label ‘soundad’. We therefore considered that the label ‘soundad’ was not sufficiently clear to indicate that the post, in particular the soundtrack, was advertising.”
ASA then concluded that Tasha should have used the branded content disclosure tool when posting.
Fling with Giovanni Pernice
Tasha and Strictly pro Giovanni Pernice reportedly dated a few years ago. Before she headed into Love Island, the pair apparently enjoyed a number of secret dates.
They are said to have connected when they started DMing each other, before meeting in January 2022 – a month after he won Strictly with Rose Ayling-Ellis.
“They have a lot in common, both being dancers, and he had just learned a lot about the deaf community performing with Rose on Strictly, who Tasha really admires,” a source claimed to MailOnline at the time.
The insider also explained why things came to an end. They said: “Their romance didn’t progress because Giovanni was travelling a lot with the Strictly tour and Tasha was already involved with someone else.”
Tasha has also addressed the romance rumours. She said: “I’ve met up with him a few times. But that was years ago.
“We are not in touch now, this is like ancient history. I’m so happy with Andrew, and he’s my future, so I don’t want to talk about the past.”
Tasha in Strictly fix row
The news of Tasha appearing on this year’s Strictly was revealed back in August. And while many people shared their excitement over Tasha taking to the floor, other people slammed the show for signing “another trained dancer”.
As Tasha has competed in a number of major dance events and featured in music videos, fans claimed she will have an unfair advantage over her co-stars.
Sharing their thoughts on social media, one person said: “Another trained dancer – when will the BBC learn,” while someone else wrote: “Isn’t this an unfair advantage. Disappointing when she’s actually a dancer.”
However, others defended Tasha, insisting she wasn’t trained as a professional ballroom dancer. They said: “Bro she isn’t a professional ballroom dancer. It’s the same with Layton. Yes he is a professional dancer but not in ballroom and Latin. I feel like she will be amazing.”
Net worth
Tasha is reportedly worth a huge £2million.
As well as brand deals, her work on social media helps top up her bank account, with Tasha said to earn up to £3,000 per sponsored post on Instagram and £1,200 from her TikTok videos.
It’s also been claimed she once earned £50,000 to take pictures for a brand and post it online.
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Catch Tasha Ghouri when Strictly airs on BBC One at 7pm on Saturday September 21.
Read more: Tasha Ghouri and Jamie Borthwick favourites to win Strictly 2024 as full line-up confirmed
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