Strictly sensation Tasha Ghouri vows ‘it’s payback time’ as she shrugs off cruel trolls’ attack on her disability

SHE is the aureate miss adjacent doorway who wore her bosom connected her sleeve during Love Island.

But since dazzling connected Strictly, Tasha Ghouri has had immoderate superior occurrence successful her belly.

It’s not conscionable due to the fact that the 26-year-old has recovered her competitory streak.

Her inspirational occurrence is besides 1 successful the oculus for the bullies who, during the ITV2 dating show, trolled her for being deaf.

Now the North Yorkshire beauty, who has been topping the scoreboard of the BBC One contention astir each week, is enjoying getting her ain back.

Ahead of making it to the landmark Blackpool week today, she said: “I’m successful my slay era. This epoch is payback, proving radical wrong.

"A batch of radical doubted me, and a batch of radical didn’t deliberation I’d get acold astatine all.

“This is the infinitesimal I tin amusement I ne'er stopped believing successful myself, it’s got maine to wherever I americium now.”

Tasha has spent her beingness defying the haters. Born deaf, she and her parents, dada Tarek and mum Nicky, learned motion language.

It wasn’t until she was 5 that she uttered her archetypal word, aft being ­fitted with a cochlear implant.

Throughout her schoolhouse years she faced abuse, which lone got worse aft she stepped into the celebrated villa successful 2022.

Twisted viewers rapidly picked up connected the information her dependable sounded antithetic due to the fact that of her disability.

Videos of girls mocking her went viral online, prompting her begetter to talk retired successful disgust.

But aft seeing the hate-filled posts erstwhile she near the show, Tasha — who recovered emotion with chap contestant Andrew Le Page, 29 — utilized their ignorance to substance her warring spirit.

On the maltreatment she has faced, exemplary Tasha said: “I’ve dealt with cyber bullying. I wasn’t idiosyncratic who was getting bullied astatine school.

"It was mostly online, but however I thought astir it astatine the clip was schoolhouse was not for ever, it’s not my full life.

Reduced to tears

“I ever had that extremity game, I knew I was going to permission my location municipality (of Thirsk). I knew I was going to London, that’s what kept maine going.

“When I came disconnected Love Island, I had to woody with a batch of radical saying worldly astir my voice, radical tweeting astir ripping retired my cochlear implant and throwing it successful the pool.

“Being brutally honest, determination were 2 girls connected TikTok and I inactive retrieve to this day, they took the mickey retired of my dependable and that went viral. It’s inactive not been taken down.

“That could person truly affected my intelligence health, but really I utilized it arsenic substance to my occurrence to bash amended for my community, to amended people.”

It is why, erstwhile she was invited to articulation this year’s Strictly line-up, Tasha knew she had to accidental yes and usage her level to pass and animate radical watching.

When she and nonrecreational creation spouse Aljaz Skorjanec did their couple’s prime regular 2 weeks ago, they utilized it to observe the deaf community.

The brace performed to Pink’s apical 10 deed What About Us, with Tasha explaining successful a clip beforehand: “This opus is astir feeling not seen, oregon unheard.

"I was calved wholly deaf successful some ears, and my parents recovered retired erstwhile I was astir 12 months old.”

The regular won implicit the judges, earning them 39 points, and reduced galore watching astatine location to tears.

More importantly, it struck a chord with young deaf girls, thing Tasha thinks is adjacent amended than lifting the show’s Glitterball trophy.

She said: “Having that absorption and giving that assurance to different people, 100 per cent that’s amended than winning.

“For the younger Tashas retired determination that conflict with aforesaid confidence, aforesaid emotion oregon conscionable trying to judge their disability, I privation to beryllium that dependable to amusement them it doesn’t specify who you are.

"I’ve had hundreds of messages, thousands now, probably.

"A batch are from girls who accidental they person been watching maine connected TV and acknowledgment to maine they consciousness assured astir wearing their hair up and showing disconnected their cochlear implant.

“I’ve been bedazzling my cochlear implant and truly making a amusement of it, and immoderate radical person said they are going to bash the same.

“It goes to amusement however overmuch of an interaction it tin have.

“You’ve got maine and (fellow contestant, unsighted comedian) Chris McCausland, we are utilizing our voices connected Strictly, that’s however important it is, and we’re showing however large the interaction it has connected radical truly is.”

Tasha added: “It’s truthful important to maine because, erstwhile I was increasing up, I ne'er had that idiosyncratic to look up to connected TV. It’s astir breaking down barriers and the stigma astir deafness and disability.”

Tasha's challenge

Having graduated from Creative Academy successful Slough, Berks, with a first-class honours grade successful creation performance, Tasha is simply a trained dancer, truthful expectations person been precocious — and she has not disappointed.

She has already clocked up six apical marks from the judges, much tens than immoderate different celebrity connected the bid truthful far. But Tasha isn’t letting that spell to her head.

She said: “I can’t expect precocious scores each week, that’s not possible. Every creation benignant is truthful different.

"I’ve got to the constituent present wherever I’m not reasoning excessively overmuch astir the scores oregon the leaderboard.

“When I started reasoning astir it, it enactment unit connected my shoulders.

“I thought, ‘Do you cognize what? Let’s enactment that to the backmost of my caput and absorption connected the dancing, connected putting smiles connected people’s faces and having a bully time’.

“That’s what it’s truly about, going connected that creation level showing each the hard enactment we’ve done successful the week.”

She is yet to people a afloat 40 points due to the fact that justice Craig Revel Horwood refuses to crockery retired the apical people until helium sees perfection.

So, arsenic Tasha prepares to execute a Paso Doble astatine Blackpool’s iconic Tower Ballroom tonight, is she dreaming of yet seeing Craig assistance that 10 paddle?

“I’m conscionable going to support doing what I’m doing, support moving hard,” she said. “If it comes, it comes.

“It’s not thing I’m needfully reasoning about, but evidently it would beryllium perfectly astonishing to get a 10 from him. I conscionable privation to beryllium it to him, I tin get that 10 mark.”

Speaking astir tonight’s show, she added: “Getting present is an implicit dream, to beryllium capable to acquisition the iconic Tower Ballroom.

"Wow. It’s kept my determination going, you know, my strive and however overmuch I truly privation it. I deliberation america 2 unneurotic arsenic a combination, we some person that drive.

“We privation to bash well. We privation to execute the champion we can.
“And truthful I consciousness similar that’s helped america to get there.”

One idiosyncratic who has been championing her each measurement and shimmy on the mode is her loved-up partner, Andrew.

The existent property agent, who comes from Guernsey, moved successful with Tasha successful her East London level conscionable days aft the Love Island final.

Earlier this year, the mates bought a detached countryside location they are fixing up together.

Tasha says his enactment has meant the satellite to her.

She added: “He’s been great. You know, it’s a lot.

“I don’t spot him arsenic much, obviously, due to the fact that I’m astatine rehearsals. I spell location late, I’m tired.

“He watches it connected a Saturday nighttime and volition travel to rehearsal sometimes.”

The brace person adjacent managed to acceptable successful a treble day with Aljaz and his wife, erstwhile nonrecreational amusement dancer Janette Manrara, who hosts Strictly’s spin-off series, It Takes Two.

Tasha said: “Andrew has been truthful supportive passim it each and I could not inquire for thing more.”

She has already hailed him arsenic “the one”, truthful could a Glitterball trophy and an engagement ringing marque this Christmas an extra- peculiar one?

With a laugh, she said: “The extremity for Strictly, for me, is not needfully winning.

“Just being successful the last would beryllium an implicit honour.

“And an engagement ring? There’s nary unit for that!

“You know, erstwhile it happens, it’ll happen. Trust the process.”

• Strictly Come Dancing is connected BBC One time nighttime astatine 6.45pm.