Strictly star Aljaž Škorjanec on his ‘frustrating’ condition – ‘It was really difficult’

Taking part in Strictly also brought its own issues. “We put in long hours and the body is under a lot of stress,” he admited. “I love the Strictly outfits – I wouldn’t change them for anything – but when you dance, you sweat a lot, which tends to make psoriasis worse, so I have to be really, really careful how much I cover up and how much I let my skin breathe.

“[Back] in 2016, when I danced with Daisy Lowe, my psoriasis was at its worst. I was pretty much in a turtleneck and long sleeves for the whole series. The costume department is so supportive and understanding though, and I never feel like it is a problem for anyone but me.”

It wasn’t just the clothing that the star had to worry about, as being caked in makeup also proved tricky. “It definitely makes things worse,” Aljaž shared. “If nothing else, when you’re taking it off, you have to rub the areas that are affected with psoriasis, so they flare up even more.”

With the unprecedented COVID-19 lockdown, Aljaž also discovered another trigger. He continued to say: “Janette and I were supposed to be touring, but that was cancelled and we were so unsure of our future – what was going to happen with work and everything was so stressful really so, of course, it flared up.”