Entertainment
Strictly’s Claudia Winkleman ‘reached out to AJ Pritchard’ after girlfriend Abbie Quinnen’s third-degree burns
Claudia Winkleman has reportedly reached out to AJ Pritchard and Abbie Quinnen to offer support after Abbie suffered third-degree burns in a terrifying accident.
Abbie, 23, and AJ, 26, had been trying to turn a wine bottle into a vase which they had seen done in a YouTube video, but was set on fire when the bottle exploded instead.
Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia, 49, is thought to have offered her support after her own daughter Matilda suffered burns in 2014 when a Halloween costume she was wearing caught on fire.
A source told The Sun: ‘Claudia was horrified when she heard about the accident and reached out straight away to send her best wishes to AJ and Abbie.
‘While they may no longer work together, as far as Claudia’s concerned, AJ will always be part of the Strictly family and it was her moral duty to rally around him, especially considered she has been through something similar.
‘Claudia knows only too well the trauma both Abbie and AJ have suffered and how long the road to recovery, both physically and mentally will be.’
The presenter has been a campaigner for the safety and regulation of materials used in children’s fancy dress costumes since her then eight-year-old daughter was burned after brushing past a candle in her Halloween costume.
Matilda suffered severe burns on her legs and Claudia’s neighbour Jamie Poulton also suffered second-degree burns after trying to put out the flame with his bare hands and stop the other children around him from also catching on fire.
AJ also recently opened up about the horrific accident, which happened on January 19, telling Lorraine Kelly: ‘The thing was to turn a wine bottle into a vase.
‘There’s a tutorial to just follow online and unfortunately it went horribly wrong. I think what’s really scary is that her clothes caught light, her hair caught light and it all happened so fast yet felt like a lifetime of a scenario.’
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