Abbie Quinnen did "everything" to "push" AJ Pritchard away after her horrific fireball accident.
Abbie Quinnen and AJ Pritchard
The 24-year-old dancer set her hair and clothing alight after a stunt intended for social media went wrong and she subsequently needed three skin grafts and 20 hospital visits.
Although AJ was very supportive of his girlfriend, she admitted she was so "traumatised" she lashed out at him as she wanted to break down his positive attitude so he felt as bad as she did.
She told The Sun newspaper: "I did everything to push him away from me. I felt so traumatised, I hit out at the person who loved me the most.
“He was by my side from the moment I came out of hospital, cooking for me, rubbing creams and moisturisers into my scars four times a day, and telling me I was beautiful, not letting me lift a finger.
"He was keeping so calm and upbeat for me, but I was an emotional mess and I wanted him to be as devastated as I was.”
Abbie refused to let AJ see her while she was in hospital and threatened to move out of their shared home because she wanted to "hide from the world".
She said: "I didn’t even recognise myself.
"All I could see were burns all over my face. I didn’t know if they would heal, I just didn’t want to look at myself or let anyone else see me.
“It was during lockdown, but the doctors decided I needed to have one visit. AJ came in to see me, but I refused to allow him into the room.
"I couldn’t bear for him to see me. I also told him I wasn’t coming home; I was going to move back in to my mum’s.
"I just wanted to hide from the world – from everyone.”
But now Abbie is focused on the future and AJ has been giving her dance lessons to take her one step closer to her dream of being on 'Strictly Come Dancing'.
She said: "I’d love to be in 'Strictly'.
"That would definitely be a dream. AJ is actually teaching me to do ballroom and Latin at the moment.
"Because I am a dancer anyway, it feels so weird to learn a different style I’ve never learnt before.
"But I love it. It’s amazing, he’s very patient which is good. He’s an amazing teacher. He doesn’t get irritated if I can’t do the steps.
"I think I just make him laugh because I can’t do it properly!"
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