Strictly Come Dancing fans have warned Tasha Ghouri’s dad Tarek Ghouri to stop mentioning previous contestants in arguments on Facebook about his daughter’s dance experience.
Since the Love Island star was announced on the BBC show’s line-up, viewers have grumbled that the 26-year-old had an unfair advantage because she had been a backing dancer in music videos for stars including MNEK.
It is, however, a long-standing and common complaint from the Strictly audience, who have previously have moaned about the likes of West End star Layton Williams’ performance background.
This year, rather than ignore the backlash, Reddit users have noticed that Tasha’s dad has been arguing with ‘idiots’ on Facebook frequently over his daughter’s dance experience.
They said while they emphathised with his positions, stating it would ‘take every ounce of my being to not snap back at people being sh**** about my kids’ they took umbrage with him dragging other contestants into the argument.
In one Facebook comment, Tarek mentioned the prior experience of Tasha’s Strictly co-stars EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, Miranda star Sarah Hadland and JLS’s JB Gill when coming to Tasha’s defence.
‘Jamie did Latin and ballroom and on the Christmas Strictly special and won it. JB had extensive dance training for JLS, Sarah also on cruise ships in theatre,’ he wrote.
‘Tash had no knowledge of Latin and ballroom going in to this and I won’t even mention her hearing impairment or young age. So, can I ask if one of the other celebs with training had achieved this very special accolade would you have posted your sarcastic comment?’
On Reddit, user Sixmoreplz claimed he was ‘throwing other contestants under the bus to divert from his daughter’ and argued that it was ‘really low-down behaviour.’
They continued: ‘Look, I do get it. I have children too and it would take every ounce of my strength not to snap back at people being sh**** about my kids. That’s his baby, he’s rightly proud of her and wants to defend her. It’s the most natural thing in the world and because she has faced hardship growing up with hearing loss, it stands to reason that he’d be even more protective.
‘Lots of people on that hellsite are constantly bringing up her dance experience (whilst never mentioning Sarah’s, etc) and also conveniently forgetting that this woman is deaf and that what she’s doing here is incredible. It must be maddening. I do get it.
‘But it’s the part where he throws the other contestants under the bus that gets me. That’s pretty vile to be honest because all he’s done now is make more of those trolls now gang up on Sarah, Jamie and JB as well.
‘He’s literally trying to divert bullies away from his daughter by pointing them in the direction of 3 others.’
Before Strictly’s launch, Tash, who is partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec issued a defiant response to the controversy over her prior experience to and other media.
‘I’m doing the show for me, for a positive experience. I’ve got to block out that noise,’ she said.
‘Luckily I’ve been in the industry for two years, I’ve grown so much stronger.’
Tasha previously responded to the complaints on Instagram, explaining how her past dance experience is very different to the ballroom dances that she’s going to learn on the show with her pro partner.
‘I’ve not danced for quite a few years, since Love Island my career is so different,’ she said at the time.
‘It’s such a different dance style, I may actually not be good at it, like ballet, I’m not good at ballet.
‘I’m trained in commercial street style. It’s going to be very hard but I’m excited for a challenge.’
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