Karim Zeroual has been seriously impressing the judges and audiences alike with his amazing dance ability on Strictly, and recently told HELLO! that he is determined to make his parents and girlfriend, Poppy Birtwistle, proud as he continues to sail through the show. Chatting ahead of the exciting Blackpool special episode of the popular dance show, he said: "My mum is a massive Strictly fan, it's really cute. Poppy's come [to the show] quite a bit, which is nice, but with any family member or partner watching, you get more nervous as you want to make your family or your other half proud, so it's kind of scary when you have them in."
Karim opened up about the show
He also opened up about his previous dance experience, which saw him perform in the West End version of The Lion King as well as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. "I was on a drama course and I did a little bit of ballet stuff, but I was a bit of cheeky boy at school so I only wanted to do drama," he explained. "I was so young and I didn’t really pay attention and I just wanted to breakdance."
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Karim has received consistently high scores from the judges
Amy added: "He did a bit of street dancing and breakdancing, but I can't put the street moves into every Viennese waltz!" Speaking about his rollercoaster journey on the show so far, Karim said: "It’s actually been really emotional. I got close to Jamie right at the beginning and he had to go, although Kelvin [Fletcher, Jamie’s replacement] is a very good friend of ours and I’m so happy he is a part of it. With Will, it was so emotional for me as I’m so close with him and I feel like he had so much to offer. The good thing is that he made such an impact and I’m so proud of him, but it was such an upsetting time." Karim and Amy has consistently been among the highest scored couples throughout the competition, and received their high score of 39 points for their Quickstep in week seven.
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