A Strictly Come Dancing professional revealed he has been living with a severe health issue for 16 years. Dancer Aljaz Skorjanec, who is paired with Love Island star Tasha Ghouri this year, opened up about his diagnosis of psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a skin condition that produces painful and itchy scales on the body. Aljaz, who is now 34, revealed he was first diagnosed at the age of 20 after dealing with symptoms for two years.
The NHS says that psoriasis leads to the development of flaky skin patches and formations of scales that can be both itchy and sore. In a 2022 interview he disclosed how psoriasis severely affected his self-esteem and even chose to conceal it during his time on Strictly.
Aljaz, who is married to fellow Strictly professional-turned-It Takes Two presenter Janette Manrara, detailed his initial encounter with the condition, sharing: “When I was about 18, I stopped dancing competitively and it was a huge change in my life.”
He recalled: “I’d had enough of the competition world there was so much politics involved and my parents had been supporting me financially, and I just didn’t think I should do it any more. But I was unsure what I was going to do and this huge void made me stressed.”
“It was around that time I started getting odd patches on my knees, which then spread to my elbows”, Birmingham Live reported.
After seeking the help of a dermatologist, who diagnosed psoriasis and prescribed steroid creams, things improved. But when he left home, the condition got worse.
“I was 20 and it was really difficult because I didn’t really fully understand why all of a sudden my skin was changing so drastically,” he said. “It’s not really the most aesthetically pleasing thing to have.”
“I was getting frustrated because, for the world that I work in, appearances mean so much and it had gone everywhere, even my face. But getting stressed only made it worse.”
Aljaz said he had seen around 20 specialists over the years for the condition, and tried tests for allergies and countless products, but nothing worked. He revealed he had even had an injection “straight into the psoriasis” as he was so “desperate” for it to stop.
He added: “It was very frustrating because each time, I would think I’d found a solution, but after a couple of weeks my skin would get back to its old ways and the problem seemed to come back worse than before, which felt even more infuriating.”
He said he had hidden his condition on the BBC dancing show and in life in general. “I was always really conscious of what I was wearing,” he added.
“I would rarely wear a short-sleeved t-shirt and still now you are never going to see me wearing shorts unless I’m on holiday somewhere hot and I have to.”
Symptoms of psoriasis include:
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Patches of skin that are dry and covered in scales
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On brown, black and white skin the patches can look pink or red, and the scales white or silvery
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On brown and black skin the patches can also look purple or dark brown, and the scales may look grey
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Some people find their psoriasis causes itching or soreness.
Most cases of psoriasis go through cycles, causing problems for a few weeks or months before easing or stopping. You should see a GP if you think you may have psoriasis.
