Watch emotional moment Strictly finalist Tasha Ghouri throws surprise for teacher after not seeing her for 15 years
TASHA Ghouri surprised her former teacher in a tear-jerking way, after not seeing her for 15 years.
Love Island star Tasha, 25, missed out on winning Strictly this year after Chris McCausland was crowned champ.
And after filming wrapped, she took the opportunity to thank her primary school teacher for her positive influence when she was at school.
Tasha, who was born deaf and wears a cochlear implant, has cherished being able to represent her community on the BBC dance show.
Now, in a heartfelt black and white video shared to social media, Tasha could be seen greeting her teacher on the doorstep – much to her surprise.
The glam star clutched a bouquet of flowers which she gifted to her teacher, before they hugged and chatted away.
Tasha told her legion of fans: “I have to say the biggest thank you to @maryanne.aitken.9 when I was young back in primary school she was my carer at school and home, she became a family friend. Taught british sign language to me, my family and friends. She was by my side the whole time.
“Taught british sign language to me, my family and friends. She was by my side the whole time.
“She even reminded me today I used to give up my play time in primary school to work on my BSL and speech, that I worked twice as harder to get to where I am now, but she was a huge part of my life that got me to where I am today & I can’t thank her enough.”
Tasha continued: “I surprised her today after not seeing her since I left primary school which is 15 years.
“We laughed, smiled, ate some cheesecake.. she is the best baker & missed your cakes!! You left a huge footprint on my heart & I will always love you!”
Tasha has also discussed what she hopes to do on the career front, after leaving the show.
She said: “I would love to do more TV and do a documentary around ableism and delve into that subject.
“Representation has got much better but more still needs to be done. It should be the norm, not a surprise.
“When I left Love Island, the hardest thing to deal with was all the ableism.
“There was so much lack of awareness.”
Tasha’s incredible performance in Saturday’s final saw her become the show’s highest scoring celebrity ever — taking the title from singer Ashley Roberts.
Her series total of 596 points trumped the Pussycat Doll’s achievement of 591 in the 2018 series.