Born in Stoke on Trent 15 months before his younger brother Curtis, AJ Pritchard started dancing aged 12 and joined Strictly Come Dancing as a professional dancer in 2013. Fellow dancer and choreographer Curtis joined the Irish series of Dancing with the Stars in 2019, before becoming a contestant on Love Island in the same year. The brothers have since appeared as themselves on Hollyoaks and live minutes away from each other in west London.
WHAT’S IN YOUR WALLET?
AJ: I always carry £100 in cash. I’m a very OCD person and I like to have an extra tenner to give as a tip. Maybe it’s a hangover from the early days of my dancing career when we always got paid in cash. I always have an ID card in my wallet too as I look so young.
Curtis: I always keep a pound coin in there for my Sainsbury’s trolley and a tenner for tipping if the service has been great. I’ll also have my debit card in there, my driving licence, my gym membership.
ARE YOU FLASHY OR FRUGAL?
AJ: We were brought up to appreciate the value of money so I’m extremely frugal to the point where when I did Strictly, I refused to buy a coffee or eat out as I wanted to save every single penny. Some people might class me as tight but I’m getting better.
Curtis: I love to be flashy but I’m a lot more frugal now and far more sensible with my money. I write down my spending and try not to buy things I don’t really need.
DO YOU OWN A PROPERTY?
AJ: I’ve owned my own property in west London for five years, but buying it was a scary moment because I leveraged myself so much to get the property that if I hadn’t got the Strictly Arena tour in the January following the show, I wouldn’t have been able to pay the mortgage. I’m in a better position now though.
Curtis: I bought my first property in Crewe when I was 19, then I sold that to get a place in London and now I pretty much live next door to AJ in a block of flats in west London.
HOW WAS IT FOR YOU GROWING UP?
AJ: Dad, who is a dance teacher, used to say, ‘dancing costs way too much money and time to do,’ and going to expensive lessons, which can cost £250 for 40 minutes with a professional dancer, would have cost a fortune. Mum is a Pilates and fitness coach, so Curtis and I actually became their investments. They put all their time and money into us, to help us become successful.
Curtis: Growing up for me was busy, but in the best way. Before dancing it was all about extreme sports and trying out everything. From mountain boarding to helping out in the garden to PlayStation. I remember offering to work at a mountain boarding centre aged eight, in return we got to go for free.
It was a way of saving our parents money because we were going every day in the summer holidays. So even from a young age I’ve understood money. My parents didn’t want me to dance even though my dad was an ex-champion. He said it’s too much hard work for too little return. Eighteen years later I can confirm it didn’t work out too badly as I was on Dancing with the Stars for three years in Ireland.
Through my dancing days I competed most weekends and trained pretty much every day. I had dance partners living with me for months on end and won many titles. It meant missing out on a few birthdays and celebrations but when you’re representing the world in your chosen sport, it’s well worth missing a few parties here and there.
HAVE YOU EVER STRUGGLED FINANCIALLY?
AJ: Without sponsors we’d never have been able to afford to travel up and down the country and pay to enter dancing competitions with no prize money, so they helped keep us financially afloat.
Curtis: When I was doing Dancing with the Stars in Ireland and I had to borrow money from the other dancers to survive, until that first pay cheque came in.
HOW MUCH WERE YOU PAID FOR YOUR FIRST JOB?
AJ: I remember walking the dogs for one of Dad’s clients who owned some kennels. It was hard work and about a fiver an hour.
Curtis: I used to cut the lawn for my neighbours for a couple of pounds as a teenager then I did the kennels job too and sometimes walked 200 dogs a day.
WHAT’S BEEN YOUR MOST LUCRATIVE WORK?
AJ: My first job with a proper pay cheque was Strictly, which was incredibly hard work, and my partner and I would dance for about 10 hours a day, so it wasn’t that lucrative per hour, but the raised profile Strictly gave me opened many other financial doors like the first time I was paid £1,000 to do a single Instagram post. At the time that was like, ‘Wow, this is mental.’
Curtis: Definitely doing Love Island because of what came from that programme. That kicked off everything and because I got fat shamed on the show I got a really lucrative 12-month contract, under six figures, with Weight Watchers.
WHAT’S YOUR BEST BUSINESS DECISION?
AJ: Definitely the launch of our new investment app Fint, which we’ve been working on for two years. Setting up a company that you own is really valuable because working in the entertainment industry, you’re fundamentally a pawn. There’s no guarantee on fees.
Curtis: We’re passionate about financially educating people and doing something that helps generate wealth for thousands of people. Don’t get me wrong, we’d love to get rich quick, but the reality is it’s all about the long game, as had been the case for both of us with our dancing, and we feel it’s a massive opportunity for us to grow in the financial world and nobody can fire us as we’re both business partners.
ARE YOU FINANCIALLY COMPETITIVE?
AJ: I am only competitive about my financials with myself, personally. I always want my money to work hard for me and go as far as possible.
I have always had the mentality that I will invest my money through a well-structured portfolio of stocks for a lifetime and draw down on that capital in the future or use the funds when needed.
Curtis: In lots of aspects of our lives we are competitive but financially we’re not competitive at all. If AJ became a billionaire, I’d be happy, and if I was broke, it wouldn’t make any difference. For us it’s all about how we can help each other to make the most money we can together, to become something massive.
BEST INVESTMENT
AJ: Our dancing. That has given us the financial freedom to do what we want.
Curtis: Investing in ourselves has allowed us to create the careers we want to.
WORST INVESTMENT?
AJ: I am always a positive person or try to find the positive. There is always a lesson to learn with every purchase.
But if I have to answer, I love shoes and purchasing shoes that are in the sale that don’t 100 per cent fit, then you don’t wear them. That has been a waste of money.
Curtis: Crypto. I put a couple of grand into some coins which I was convinced would go up. I was like, ‘these are going to be amazing’. And let’s just say they don’t exist any more.
MONEY WEAKNESS?
AJ: Travel. I usually say no to travel but this year I want to spend more money on experiences. I’m excited to be broadening my horizons.
Curtis: Having fun. I love to do extreme sports. I love a night out and I love car racing.
WHAT’S YOUR GREATEST EXTRAVAGANCE?
AJ: I’m so boring. I bought a Cartier watch for £8,000, which my grandmother who has passed away put some money towards, so it has nostalgic value to me too.
Curtis: I spent £4,000 on a bottle of limited-edition Craigellachie Whisky, which a guy at an airport persuaded me to buy. I tossed a coin to decide, it came up heads and I bought it. I’ve not touched it and it’s gone up in value by £2,000.
WHAT’S YOUR BEST FOR RETIREMENT: PROPERTY OR PENSION?
AJ: I’ve always put money into pensions as it’s more tax efficient. For me it’s about investing into a well-structured portfolio of stocks and shares for the future and doing a drawdown on that for my retirement. I want to build up a massive capital and do a 4 per cent drawdown when I need to.
Curtis: Pretty much the same for me. I’m glad I started my pension at a young age, but my plan is to invest for the longevity of my career.
WHAT ARE YOUR FINANCIAL PRIORITIES FOR THE REST OF 2024?
AJ: For me it’s 100 per cent about building equity within multiple companies.
Curtis: Me too and when it all pays off I can then give to charity and do the things I love to do.
AJ and Curtis Pritchard’s new investment app Fint is available on Apple and Android