Former Strictly Come Dancing pro Kristina Rihanoff has opened up about a health issue she’s suffered from.
Kristina, who left the BBC show in 2015, has discussed her struggles with bladder weakness, pelvic floor numbness and a loss of core strength after giving birth to her daughter.
The dancer, 47, welcomed daughter Milena in 2016 with her partner Ben Cohen.
Strictly star Kristina Rihanoff on health issue
Speaking to OK! Magazine, Kristina explained of her health problems: “It was scary because you think, ‘Am I ever going to dance again?’ At the end of the day, it’s my work, and I love it.”
She then explained further the symptoms she struggled with.
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Kristina, 47, said: “I had no sensation of any kind in my pelvic floor area. I’m very body aware so I was like, ‘What is going on?’ I know my body inside out, I have always trained my body and competed at the professional level with very high endurance training so feeling like I couldn’t engage my core, and I couldn’t engage my pelvic floor, it really freaked me out. I was like, ‘What happened to my body? Where is all of that sensation?'”
What Kristina Rihanoff is doing now
She’s now working with TENA to create a pelvic floor strengthening dance to help other women experiencing the same problems.
I had no sensation of any kind in my pelvic floor area.
Kristina said: “Lots of women I know want to get back to activity after having a child, because you just want to feel kind of normal again. You want to go for that walk, that run, that yoga class… If you feel like you can’t control yourself so you shouldn’t go, that adds to depression, that adds to mental health issues, that adds to feeling inadequate and feeling bad about yourself.”
Since leaving Strictly, Kristina now has her own dance school. The star said she now dances “every day with the kids” who are all different ages and dance levels.
Speaking about her future on TV, Kristina said she would consider doing I’m A Celebrity or SAS: Who Dares Wins.
She said she’d want to “do something challenging like learning a new skill or doing something crazy”.
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