Strictly star Tasha Ghouri’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ that left her unable to hear music

The show must go on, the saying goes, and Strictly Come Dancing star Tasha Ghouri managed to embody that spirit when her cochlear implant came loose during a particularly vigorous Samba with professional partner Aljaz Skorjanec as they rehearsed their Halloween Week routine to Reel 2 Real’s Nineties hit I Like to Move It.

Despite not being able to hear a note, the influencer and former Love Island star managed to keep dancing by simply keeping count of the steps, until she somehow managed to reattach the magnetic device in mid-flow: "I managed to reattach it while we were dancing, and afterwards Aljaz said, 'When did you even do that?'" she told the Daily Mail.

Tasha said she had the situation completely under control: “I went straight to counting steps. I'm always thinking ahead like that. My body almost does it automatically because if that scenario happens on live TV - which is possible, especially with all the turns - you can't just say, ‘Stop! We need to start again’.”

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The 26-year-old model explains that she’s been through a similar experience before: “'When I was doing my A-levels, something went wrong with the implant inside and I had to have an operation to replace it.

“It meant being fully deaf again for four months. I was taking part in a group dance where I'd already learned the routine, so I still took part - but relying on memory and counting, and the feel of the beat.”

Tasha was born deaf, and was initially given hearing aids before being given a single cochlear implant just before her fifth birthday. Her deafness meant that she was also unable to speak until she was five, communicating solely via sign language up to that point.

Despite her deafness, Tasha took up ballet when she was three years old, although she admits she was never particularly good at it. She was also obsessed with pop group Steps, learning the dance moves from all their videos: “'Some of my happiest times were when I was dancing along to a Steps DVD that I must have worn out,' she says.

“I'd do the Tragedy dance, making my parents think I had some rhythm. I probably didn't, but it was enough for them to send me to dance classes, and that became my safe space. It was an escape from school, from everything.”

Her enthusiasm for dancing saw her featured in the music video for the single More Than Words by dance music act Sleepwalkers. She revealed on Twitter that she had auditioned as a dancer for the 2023 film Barbie, only missing out because the filming clashed with her commitments to Love Island.

While there was initially some criticism that Tasha was taking part in Strictly, given her dance background, she has stressed that she had "never learned or been taught" any of the dance styles featured in the competition.

However, she has emphasised her gratitude to her parents for sup[porting her dance dreams: “I could not be more grateful to have had the parents I did.

"They were so patient. They worked so hard. For them to see that little girl who tried to dance to Steps on Strictly is the culmination of a dream, everything coming full circle.”