From Blackburn to the ballroom and beyond, AJ Odudu means business. Here, the presenter, 34, shares how fitness saved her career, why she believes the self-care conversation can be elitist and why, in a world rife with rules and judgements, it’s brave and powerful to be yourself
Where were you the night of the Strictly Come Dancing 2021 final? If you’re anything like a good half dozen of the Women’s Health team, you were wet of eye and broken-hearted over a TV presenter clad in a glitzy minidress – and a massive moon boot – doing her level best to keep it together in the name of professionalism, supportiveness and goodwill. We’re talking, of course, about AJ Odudu: presenter, former fitness blogger, trained PT and, in that moment, a woman who was devastated that a ruptured ligament in her right ankle meant that she couldn’t dance, and had to forfeit her place in the final. ‘That whole evening was like a sweet dream and a beautiful nightmare,’ she smiles. ‘It was absolutely amazing. I got to wear the dress I was going to wear for my show dance; I wanted to get to the final and I got to the final,’ she says. Plus, she got to witness history and cheer on the show’s first deaf contestant, actress Rose Ayling-Ellis, who was crowned champion. ‘But it was also that realisation of, “Oh my gosh, I cannot believe that I’m not on that stage because I’ve got this injury! Are you joking? This is not what I imagined,”’ she breaks into a trademark uproarious laugh, ‘Now is not the time!’
It was mid-January before AJ stopped feeling angry. ‘Now, I kind of feel guilty that I was so hard on myself initially. I thought, “How were you so angry at your body, which has done so much. Like, at least 10 hours a day for 13 weeks,”’ she says. ‘Yes I have this body that let me down, but, actually, it carried me to the final; it did what it needed to do.’ AJ is chatting to me, via Zoom, from the bright living room of the south-east London flat she’s recently renovated, and even after a flight from Vietnam and a day’s filming for the Bafta red carpet show, she’s bringing good energy. As is her trademark. Watch the 34-year-old in work mode – presenting from the red carpet, hosting Married At First Sight UK: Afters, gamely downing juice shots and telling us about blagging limos from a Leeds pub (full details on the WH YouTube channel) – and you get the sense that this is not simply a woman nailing a job she’s born to do, but one who’s also savouring her success. After 12 years in the business, the excitement is still there. ‘I don’t take anything for granted, and when things go right and I get certain opportunities
