Former Strictly Come Dancing star AJ Pritchard is currently competing for a place on the show's American spin-off, Dancing With The Stars, but he failed to impress the judging panel17:24, 15 Jul 2026Strictly Come Dancing's AJ Pritchard has come under fire. The former BBC dancing professional is currently competing for a place on the American edition of the show, Dancing With The Stars, but he failed to impress the judging panel.‌The Stoke-on-Trent-born dancer is hoping to secure a spot on Dancing With The Stars and is currently competing to win The Next Pro competition to secure his spot on the show. It comes as the American dancing competition launched a huge search to find its latest professional dancer ahead of the new series.‌Current Dancing With The Stars winner Robert Irwin is hosting The Next Pro, which sees a string of dancers put through their paces. Strictly's Shirley Ballas sits as head judge on the show, alongside her son Mark Ballas and professional dancer Derek Hough.‌However, AJ failed to impress the judges this week due to his lack of energy – and they certainly didn't hold back with their feedback. As AJ stood in front of the three judges to deliver their verdict, alongside Dancing With The Stars Juniors star Jake Monreal, Derek fumed: "I think you lacked oomph and a little bit of energy, especially with what the music was giving us."So moving forward, think about that, you can't dance below the music." Mark added: "AJ technique was good, you've done this job before in Strictly, so there's a little more pressure on you.‌"There's killers on our show. If you are dancing next to someone like Val Chmerkovskiy [who is one of the existing US pros], I want to see you fight for it."Meanwhile, Shirley went on to say: "AJ, I want you to take risks, I don't ever want to get the feeling from you that you're playing it safe." Shirley and AJ worked together on Strictly for three years before he decided to walk away from the show in 2020.‌When he decided to quit Strictly, AJ said he was "looking forward to a new chapter". Speaking to The Sun at the time, AJ, who set his sights on a TV career, said of Strictly: "It took up six months of my life, some days I would work 18-hour days because I was dancing and choreographing."I didn't have a life, and I wanted to be able to do more." He and his brother, Curtis, had hoped to become the "next Ant and Dec". "I want to have my own brand, and there were things I couldn't do because of the Strictly brand and the time involved," he went on.‌"I want to show people what I'm about - not just, 'Here's my celebrity partner this year that I'm going to showcase'." He stated that over the course of his time on the show, he was "upset" over having to turn down other opportunities and said it was a "relief" that he had decided to quit.But should he be successful in landing a spot on Dancing With The Stars, he faces an awkward interaction with Maura Higgins, his brother's ex-girlfriend.Maura has become the first contestant confirmed for the 35th series of the popular competition, having recently become a hit across the pond after appearing on The Traitors.Article continues belowLike this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.