Strictly Come Dancing couple Karen and Kevin Clifton have confirmed they are to divorce.
The two dancers finally addressed rumours about their relationship during an interview with Chris Evans’ BBC Radio 2 show, confirming their marriage has ended.
However, they insisted they’re still the “best of friends” and will continue to dance together professionally.
Kevin, 35, said: “There’s been a lot of talk about me and Karen, a lot of speculation going on.
“I think a lot of people are usually quite afraid to talk about these things but we’ve always felt the best thing is to be honest with everyone and upfront and respectful to our fans, and everyone who comes out to support us.
“So we wanted to let everyone know that privately we are not together anymore but professionally we are stronger than ever before.
“Dance has been the thing… it’s how we came together and the glue that has held us together for years.
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“We’re still the best of friends – we still have a lot of love and respect for each other. I still pretty much see Karen every day, as we’re always throwing ideas around and creatively putting things together.
“What we’ve found is that since we’ve been honest with each other it’s unlocked this new wealth of creativity and we feel we’re stronger than ever and taking our dance partnership and professional relationship to the next level.”
Kevin continued: “Dancing is about feeling and heart and a lot of heart has gone into this show. So privately not together, but professionally stronger than ever and this will be an amazing show.
Karen, 35, added: “We have such strong chemistry and for us it’s about the storytelling and giving the best performance and entertaining and inspiring.
“At the end of the day it’s about giving back to our fans and giving the love and that we love dancing together so much.
“Touring the UK will be great and we’re feeling very positive.”
Rumours about the Strictly couple’s marriage began surfacing during the last series of the BBC dance show.
It was suggested the distance between them was a factor, as Kevin trained in Scotland with his dance partner Susan Calman while Karen and Simon Rimmer were in Manchester.
But Karen later told The Sun that they were just a normal couple who row like everyone else – the only difference is they are in the public eye.
She said: “We’re a regular couple, we’ve been together for seven years, and like any other relationship, you have ups and downs. Nothing is perfect.
“We just need to keep pushing. Relationships take work. It’s not as easy as you think, especially being in a job like Strictly.”
As rumours continued to swirl, Karen told the Sunday Mirror in January: “People are going to be interested but at the end of the day we are happy.”
Despite their split, the pair are continuing to work together professionally. Their new tour kicks off in May and will visit 37 venues across the UK and Ireland.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BgQsh0UhEaH/?hl=en&taken-by=karencliftonofficial
It’s been described as a “high-energy” evening filled with “sassy tunes, sparkling costumes, compelling storytelling and heart-pounding choreography.”
“We were so overwhelmed by all the messages we received from people asking us to come to parts of the country that we weren’t able to on our 2017 tour, so we are thrilled that our 2018 tour is taking in more dates and more venues around the country,” they said.
“Doing our own tour is a dream come true and we can’t wait to come back with something totally new and exciting.”
We’ll see you there, guys!
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