Strictly star Tasha Ghouri cruelly taunted by bullies who mocked her disability

Tasha Ghouri, 26, is one of the leading favourites to win Strictly Come Dancing this year - and the talented star isn't going to let online trolls stand in her way

Love Island star Tasha Ghouri topped the leaderboard once more last week on Strictly Come Dancing - and shows no signs of backing down.

The 26-year-old earned a near perfect 39 points for her Paso Doble with Aljaz Skorjanec to Nathan Lanier's Torn, which judge Motsi Mabuse branded the "dance of the night".

The reality TV contestant faces stiff competition if she wants to lift the Glitterball Trophy - Miranda star Sarah Hadland joined her on top of the leader board thanks to her couple's choice routine to Kylie Minogue's banger Padam Padam. Comedian Chris McCausland is also consistently good, earning 37 points for his dreamy American Smooth this week.

But you wouldn't bet against Tasha as the determined star has overcome serious adversity to achieve success and has been forced to hit back at the cruel online trolls for targeting her due to her disability. Tasha responded in the best possible way, telling the Sun: "I'm in my slay era. This era is payback, proving everyone wrong.

"A lot of people doubted me and a lot of people didn't think I'd get far at all. This is the moment I can show I never stopped believing in myself, it's got me to where I am now."

Tasha's time on the dance contestant comes three years after Rose Ayling-Ellis became Strictly's deaf contestant, going onto lift the Glitterball Trophy. The reality star from Yorkshire was born deaf too and uses a cochlear implant, prompting mean social media users to make videos about the way she speaks.

"When I came off Love Island, I had to deal with a lot of people saying stuff about my voice, people tweeting about ripping out my cochlear implant and throwing it in the pool," said Tasha. "Being brutally honest, there were two girls on TikTok and I still remember to this day, they took the mickey out of my voice and that went viral. It's still not been taken down."

After her stint on Love Island as the first deaf contestant, Tasha vowed not to let the trolls win and today, she has 2.2 million followers across her social media platforms. "For the younger Tashas out there that struggle with self confidence, self love or just trying to accept their disability, I want to be that voice to show them it doesn’t define who you are," she said.

Offscreen, Tasha is loved up with Love Island's Andrew Le Page, 29. The couple live together, have matching tattoos and own a dog together, with marriage on the cards in the future. "Andrew's the man I'm going to marry at some point," the star told the Sunday Times.