ABBY QUINNAN can finally look in the mirror with confidence again, 15 months after a horrific fireball accident.
The 24-year-old dancer and girlfriend of former pro AJ Pritchard credits posing for the Sun on Sunday photo shoot with making her “feel sexy again.”
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She says, “Now I have accepted my reflection in the mirror.
“It took a while and I am slowly accepting my scars.
“Every day I tell myself that over time they will look better - the main thing is patience.
“I have to remember that my burns don’t define me. They just showed the story of what happened to me. I hope I can see my scars as part of me.
“I danced with AJ in costumes that showed my scars. I forget they are there and it seems incredible.
“It’s been a while, but I feel sexy again.”
Abby suffered third-degree burns after a social media stunt with AJ last January went awry.
They hoped to cut a glass bottle in half by dipping a string in a flammable chemical, wrapping it around the bottle and lighting a flame. But the TikTok stunt ended in disaster as Abby got burned.
She suffered burns to her face, neck, shoulder and arm and had to undergo traumatic skin grafts.
But last week she received the good news that she would not need further surgery.
Abby says: “I went to my surgeon and it was so great, I haven’t seen her in ten months. She was so impressed with how my scars looked.
“The scars have healed very well and she doesn’t need to have another operation, which is the best news.”
This prompted the star to pose for the cameras in our stunning lingerie photoshoot.
wedding bells
More than a year after we first talked about her ordeal, Abby adds: “I looked so sick for so long.
“But now I am returning to my old self, and such actions have given me confidence.
“It took me a long time to do it. I was very unsure how I would feel that day.”
She now plans to perform on AJ’s tour later this year, which he does with his younger brother, dancer and former islander Curtis, 26. It’s called AJ & Curtis’ Big Night Out.
Abby also set her sights on a role in the West End.
But she reveals that AJ, who was on I’m a Celebrity in 2020, was also hit hard by the fireball accident and the couple needed therapy.
Recalling the fire, she says, “It’s not his fault in any way, but AJ really struggled and felt guilty for a very long time.
“I don’t think he will ever forgive himself.
“So talking to someone really helped — as did talking to each other, talking about our feelings.
“We went through everything that happened, and through what I feel now, and what he feels.
I looked sick for so long. But now I am returning to my old self, and such actions have given me confidence.
“We’re really, really strong and we have an understanding for each other.” The couple is so close now that wedding bells may be ringing soon.
Abby says: “I love AJ. I’d love to marry him and start a family with him, but you’ll have to ask AJ when he proposes.
“It’s every girl’s dream to be asked. Although, maybe that’s what I’m asking.
“Imagine if I did this on stage while on tour. He would be so shocked, I don’t think he could go on - he would pass out.”
Abby takes pride in being a positive role model for girls who struggle with body image.
She says, “After my accident, I had so many fights. I force myself to become an even better dancer than before, as well as to become stronger physically and mentally.
“It was a near-death experience and it makes you look at your life in a different way.
“I had no idea that I would ever get my full range of motion back or look the same again. But I was so strict with the recovery.
“I did everything the doctors told me, from wearing a compression vest to moisturizing my skin four times a day.”
She adds: “I received so many messages from young girls and their mothers thanking me for speaking out and they all said they would look up to me and watch my journey.
“It taught me that you can overcome adversity. And I definitely feel more confident now.”
But Abby remembers the skin graft as the worst part of her recovery.
After my accident I got a lot more struggle. I force myself to become an even better dancer than before, as well as to become stronger physically and mentally.
She says: “I cried all night because I was so afraid to go to them when they gave me anesthesia. I was so worried that I wouldn’t wake up. It was terrible.
“I felt so sorry for AJ. He has to deal with me, he will push me through the door. It was traumatic for both of us, but I was lucky to have him by my side.”
“I’ve been at my lowest”
In addition, Abby also had to deal with online trolling.
She says: “I was at the lowest level and people wrote terrible things.
“I remember someone saying, ‘Don’t go near your niece or nephew, you’ll scare them to death with your burns.’ Imagine someone saying something like this? But now everyone is rooting for me, and it was very sweet.”
Abby moved in with 27-year-old AJ and Curtis at the start of lockdown, though Curtis has since moved out.
The trio also ran the London Landmarks half marathon together last week.
Abby finished in an impressive one hour, 49 minutes and 41 seconds.
She says, “I’m still high, I don’t know how I did it so fast. I’m just so proud of myself, AJ and Curtis.”
Curtis has been struggling with a bad back and Abby says, “He couldn’t do it as fast as we did. I felt so sorry for him. I almost cried when he jumped over the line at the end.
“He moved out of AJ’s apartment and slept on an air bed on the floor. I saw him a couple of days before the race, and he was suffering with his back. He hobbled ten miles.
“I lived with both of them and these two are fun together.
“They argue all the time, but it’s so funny to watch them. AJ is obsessed with cleanliness, so if there was a mess in Curtis’ room, it would be World War III.”
But when Curtis is not at home, Abby feels that AJ is now “picking on me”. She says with a laugh, “I leave things everywhere and he picks on me. It should have all the cans and everything rotated correctly.
“If I open the cereal incorrectly, he will ask: “Why did you open it like that?”
But they clearly had a big fight, and Abby proudly states, “We’re going to get through this together.”
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