PROUD Lancashire lass AJ Odudu has met her match in dance partner Kai Widdrington.

The pair were coupled up during Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing launch show, with AJ saying it is a ‘dream come true’ for her to be in the ballroom.

AJ, who hails from Blackburn, is a TV presenter best known for her roles on shows like Big Brother’s Bit on the Side and The Voice.

In the audience on the night was AJ’s mum Florence, who continues to live in the town.

Her Strictly professional partner Kai is one of the new kids on the block, having never appeared on the UK version of the show before.

Speaking during Saturday night’s show, AJ said she was a ‘proud Lancashire lass’ and joked that ‘her blood is made of gravy’.

She said: “I’ve got five brothers and two sisters, if anyone is going to heckle me, it’s going to be them!”

Speaking with show host Tess Daly, AJ admitted that appearing on Strictly was a ‘career highlight’

She said: “Honestly it’s a dream to be here and you know, the opportunity to learn how to dance from the best in the bizz – what a dream.

“My mum us such a huge fan and we have debriefs on the phone after the shows and stuff like that – this is the proudest she has ever been of me, there is no doubt about that.”

When asked what she was looking for in a partner, AJ said: “I would love someone obviously very patient as I’ve never danced before, but really firm and fun.”

AJ dazzled during the group performance at the end of the show, where she took to the floor for the first time alongside the other celebs appearing on this year’s show – including Dan Walker, Tilly Ramsey and Chorley’s John Whaite, who will form the first all-male couple with professional Johannes Radebe.

Bake Off star Whaite had set his hopes on being paired with South African dancer Radebe for the show’s first all-male pairing, having previously said,: “I hope it’s Johannes because I think it’d be really important for him to have the first all-male couple – I think it’d have a very powerful message for him as well.

“That’s not to say that in the future it has to be two gay men.

“It could be two straight men doing an all-male, but I think for the first one it would be particularly important for it to be Johannes.”