CURTIS Pritchard says he was left “hurt” by his split from Maura Higgins and was shocked by rumours she and Alex Demetriou are now a couple.
The reality TV star, who fell for Maura on Love Island last year, told how they agreed to end their seven- month relationship in a phone call last month.
But Curtis admits he was blindsided by the Irish star’s decision to publicly reveal their break-up — and hasn’t spoken to her since.
The dancer has also tried to ignore reports surrounding Maura’s suspected relationship with Dancing On Ice pro Alex, saying: “It’s not nice to read about.”
Speaking out for the first time, Curtis said: “I have no proof that anything more has happened between them. I don’t like to think about it. I don’t want to look back over the past few months for warning signs. But it’s not nice to read about her relationship with Alex and to see pictures of them together.”
After Curtis and Maura, 29, finished fourth on the ITV2 dating show in September they both landed lucrative TV gigs.
While Curtis was cast as the receptionist on The Greatest Dancer, Maura won her own slot on This Morning and became a contestant on Dancing On Ice. Curtis told how cracks began to appear the more time they spent apart.
He says: “We did have lots of good times — one of the highlights was when I asked her to be my girlfriend at Port Lympne Safari Park in Kent. But we were spending a lot of time apart. I was on The Greatest Dancer and she was training for Dancing On Ice from December.”
“I went to her first three shows, but after that she asked me not to come. She said she had terrible nerves and it was easier without me there. I just accepted that. I wasn’t concerned about there being anything romantic between her and Alex.”
“But as the weeks went on our relationship deteriorated, and then at the beginning of March we agreed to go our separate ways. It hurt. I wasn’t ready for everyone to know we had split up — I wanted some time. It was a shock to see that she had announced it on social media hours later.”
Maura opened up last week about her split from Curtis in an exclusive interview with Fabulous magazine.
She admitted she falls out of love quickly and added: “I’m 29 and I want somebody that I can see a future with. Curtis is 24 — maybe he did want that, but I felt it wasn’t going in that direction.”
Curtis went on: “I’ve always felt age is just a number. I could have seen us having a future, yes. But our careers got in the way.”
He adds: “If she does move on fast, well, everyone is different. But there are no hard feelings. I haven’t thought about how I’d feel if she and Alex did go public as a couple. But if so, I’d wish them all the best.”
Curtis credits working with his brother, Strictly pro AJ, for helping him move on from the break-up.
He had been performing on the AJ Live tour until it had to be postponed because of coronavirus. Curtis says: “I’m happy single for now — the tour was a good distraction from the split.”
During lockdown, Curtis and AJ have focused their energy on fundraising for the NHS. Their Dress Up, Dance, Donate project has seen them teach routines to fans. And it looks to be the first of many joint ventures for the brothers after AJ announced last month that he was quitting Strictly.
Curtis went on: “That was a big career change for AJ, but we are excited. We’d love to present our own TV show together. The sky’s the limit.”
