Curtis Pritchard reveals why he might not watch winter Love Island

Life has been transformed for Shropshire dancer Curtis Pritchard.

He is so busy that he has admitted he might not watch the new series of Love Island when it returns to television later this month.

The reality star, who came fourth on the most recent series of the ITV2 dating show with girlfriend Maura Higgins, said he is too busy with other commitments.

It is a major step change for a man who had found some fame through Ireland’s Dancing with the Stars but was otherwise known as the less-heralded Pritchard Brother after AJ became a fixture on Britain’s Strictly Come Dancing.

Curtis and AJ learned dancing as youngsters. They grew up in Shropshire and their parents own a dancing studio near Whitchurch.

They often entertained at old folks homes in the region as teenagers, including Court Nursing Home, near Shrewsbury.

Curtis’s entrance on to the last series of Love Island has opened up fresh opportunities. He may not have won the competition, but he is so busy that he admits he will have little chance to follow the new series, which will see singletons pair up in a villa in South Africa, in contrast to the summer series, which is filmed in Majorca.

He said: “I don’t know if I’m going to watch it, not because I don’t want to but my time has been very limited recently. Whenever I can relax it’s really with Maura and my mum and my dad and my friends, I don’t watch too much TV anymore.”

The winter series of the show will be hosted by Laura Whitmore after regular presenter Caroline Flack stepped down following an assault charge.

Flack denied assaulting boyfriend Lewis Burton in an incident that left them both covered in blood in scenes likened to a “horror movie”.

She is alleged to have hit Burton over the head with a lamp, causing a head injury.

Pritchard will next be seen on television as the receptionist on the new series of The Greatest Dancer and admitted he was nervous to take on the role.

He said: “I didn’t know what to expect or what not to expect, I always go into everything with an open mind so nothing can frighten me but I still get nervous, still get excited.

“I just realised as the day went on and as the show went on for the next couple of days, I can relax into it and if I want to go and dance with somebody, let’s dance, they are about to go on for a life-changing performance so I just want them to feel good and ready for it.

“You may see me twerk at some point, you may not, that is all I’m saying.”

Pritchard and Higgins are only one of two surviving couples from the 2019 series of Love Island, alongside Tommy Fury and Molly-Mae Hague, but Pritchard said Higgins did not manage to visit him on the set of the dancing show because she will be competing in Dancing On Ice.

He said: “We have been all over the place right now, she will either try and come to me or I will try and come to her because she’s in Dancing On Ice and I’ve been boxing, so we are just scattered everywhere.

“We are not struggling with the relationship or anything like that, we are in a great place, but time management is a crucial thing.”

Pritchard added that Higgins has been working hard at training but has had “the odd one or two bruises on her knees and on her bum”.

The Greatest Dancer returns to BBC One on Saturday at 7pm.