TV star revealed as Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest success story with millions in bank despite crashing out of show
TELLY presenter AJ Odudu has become one of Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest success stories — making £1.2million since being on the show.
The 35-year-old’s earnings soared when she was swamped with job offers after she crashed out of the dance contest in 2021 with an ankle injury.
The figures, from newly-filed accounts for the company which handles her earnings, do not even include her estimated £500,000 pay for hosting the current ITV reboot of Big Brother.
A TV insider said: “Before Strictly, she was a little known presenter who’d been grafting for years, but never managed to make her big breakthrough.
“But after AJ dazzled on the dance floor, she became a household name — and broadcasters were queueing up to give her work.
“She didn’t hesitate to take up as many jobs as she could. The result is she’s now one of Britain’s highest achieving and high earning presenters.”
Newly filed accounts for AJ’s company, Piggy and Tuffs, cover the period from February 2022 to January this year.
They show she has £1.8million in the bank, which includes earnings from the eight years she was sporadically on smaller TV shows.
Blackburn-born AJ had to quit Strictly in December 2021 just before she was about to compete in the final.
She was a favourite to win with dance pro partner Kai Widdrington and is believed to have earned around £50,000 for appearing.
Since leaving, she has appeared in 20 different shows across the three main broadcasters, including The Big Breakfast, Married at First Sight and Celebrity Bake Off on Channel 4, and the Eurovision Song Contest on the BBC.
She also featured in an advert for Google phones.
Last year, she told how the struggle for success only made her more grateful, saying: “All the setbacks I had earlier in my career have made me appreciate things more.”