Just a week into the latest series of Strictly Come Dancing and already rumours are rife that the dreaded Strictly curse has struck again.
TOWIE star Pete Wicks and his pro partner Jowita Przystal have already set tongues wagging.
However, they’re not the first, and we very much doubt they’ll be the last to struck by claims of the Strictly curse…
Is the Strictly curse necessarily a bad thing?
Well, Craig Revel Horwood thinks not.
He has said: “People call it the Strictly curse but I always think of it as the Strictly blessing. People have fallen in love, had children, got married. They might have been in rotten relationships with people they didn’t even like and didn’t know until they met someone else.
“People don’t fall off the wagon if they’re already in love. I think it’s great. It’s better than meeting online – at least you know what they look like, and you know how they dance.”
Here, we look back through the mists of time to remember the stars who split from their partners and the couples who found blissful love on Strictly…
Natasha Kaplinsky and Brendan Cole
Way back in series one, dancers Brendan Cole and Camilla Dallerup were love’s young dream.
But when he was paired up with newsreader Natasha Kaplinsky, the couple split amid rumours Brendan and his celeb partner had grown close.
Read more: Brendan Cole denies rumours he and Craig Revel Horwood ‘don’t like each other’
Although Camilla described the split like “a mini death”, neither Brendan or Natasha ever confirmed they had a fling.
However, in an interview in 2018, Brendan admitted the intimacy of dance can be distracting.
“I didn’t cross any lines with Natasha,” he admitted. “I was single. Camilla had ended the relationship very early on in the series so what happened happened after that.
“It was a harrowing time – winning the show as much as my friendship with Natasha. On the other hand it was like, holy Moses. It can ruin a marriage so easily.”
Brendan and Natasha didn’t last, with the pro dancer now happily married to wife Zoe.
Camilla, too, is married. She wed Hollyoaks star Kevin Sacre in 2010.
Joe Calzaghe and Kristina Rihanoff
When boxer Joe Calzaghe was signed up to appear in the 2009 series of Strictly, he was five years into a relationship with Jo-Emma Larvin.
But before Joe had even met his partner Kristina Rihanoff, Jo-Emma was so concerned about the curse, she outright asked him: “Don’t they all end up having affairs?”
Within a week of training, she and Joe had broken up.
“Make of that what you will,” she said years later. “It all just happened so fast, I was really confused. I was a mess.”
Joe and Kristina ended up dating for the next four years. They split in 2013, with Kristina’s work schedule pushing them apart.
The 2009 series also saw contestant Ricky Whittle split from his long-time girlfriend, Hollyoaks co-star Carley Stenson. He then moved on to date Strictly pro Natalie Lowe.
Ben Cohen and Kristina Rihanoff
In 2013, Kristina was the cat who got the cream when she was paired with rugby player Ben Cohen.
However, no sooner had the series ended and the buff beefcake revealed he and Abby, his wife of 11 years, had parted company.
Ben was adamant that the split was nothing to do with Kristina, in spite of being snapped arm in arm on a tube.
A few weeks later, Ben and Kristina confirmed they were an item, but stressed it happened long after Ben’s split from Abby.
The couple have since gone on to become parents to a little girl. However, recent events has seen the couple in court, with Ben revealing he’s fighting to save his relationship.
Matt Di Angelo and Flavia Cacace
In 2007, Flavia Cacace reportedly ditched Vincent Simone – her long-term boyfriend and dance partner of eight-years – for EastEnders hunk Matt Di Angelo.
However, Matt admitted it took him a while to work out what the story was between the pair, as there was a lot of acting involved on the dancefloor.
“Sometimes we had to look like we wanted to rip each other’s clothes off. I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t,” he said in an interview after they got together.
“It wasn’t until the final I realised I fancied her. We were together from 8am till 3am and because she was so excited, she looked extra beautiful.”
Despite not going public until after the series, Vincent admitted he had been infuriated by Matt’s flirting and late-night phone calls.
But Matt was adamant nothing was going on to start with.
“The funny thing was the story didn’t start off as true, but the more you read it, the more you started to believe it and actually act on it,” he told the Daily Mail.
Flavia and Matt enjoyed a three-year relationship but split in 2010. Flavia went on to dance with Jimi Mistry and they married in 2013.
Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna
Not all relationships come about amid a scandal, some can be a beautiful fairy tales.
In 2009, Hollyoaks actress Ali Bastian and her dance partner Brian Fortuna fell for each other on the dancefloor.
They ended up enjoying a year-long romance.
Strictly curse: Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev
Countdown star Rachel Riley went into Strictly a married woman, but as the series progressed, it emerged that she and her husband Jamie Gilbert had split.
It wasn’t long before she and Strictly partner Pasha Kovalev confirmed they were dating, but they insisted there was no overlap between the two romances.
The pair tied the knot in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas in June 2019 and they are now parents to two little girls – Maven and Noa.
Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev
It was a good year for EastEnders star Kara Tointon in 2010.
Not only did she take home the Strictly glitter ball, she also won the heart of her dancer Artem Chigvintsev.
However, after three years of being together they split and the actress told The Telegraph: “We are not together. We’re fine, but we aren’t a couple any more.”
According to Kara the pair had found it difficult to spend time together as Artem’s visa meant he was unable to stay in the UK permanently.
She now has two children with fiancé Marius Jensen. He was recently arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse. His wife Nikki Garcia has reportedly filed for divorce.
Strictly curse: Georgia May-Foote and Giovanni Pernice
When Coronation Street star Georgia signed up for Strictly in 2015, she was dating her co-star Sean Ward.
And, throughout the series she maintained her close friendship with dance partner Giovanni Pernice was just that.
However, once the series ended, she and Sean split and she and Giovanni embarked on a brief relationship.
She admitted: “Gio is everything to me. I’m 100% happy with Gio. He’s smitten and I’m the same. We trust each other.
“We fell in love as friends before anything happened.”
Sadly, the couple went their separate ways just before the next series.
Strictly curse: Louise Redknapp
The Eternal singer competed in the 2016 series of the show, partnered with Kevin Clifton. Months after her exit, she revealed her 19-year marriage to former footballer Jamie Redknapp was done and dusted. A year later, Kevin split from wife Karen Hauer.
However, Louise has said nothing romantic ever happened with Kevin. However, she did blame her appearance on the show for being the catalyst for her marriage split.
Opening up in her book, You’ve Got This, she shared: “If I’d done the show four years earlier, this wouldn’t have happened. I wouldn’t have walked away from my marriage.”
In addition, Louise said: “I still wish I’d done things differently because I feel like I hurt a lot of people and I’ll always be sorry for that. I felt like certain people had my back, and, in hindsight this wasn’t really the case. I was so scared about going back to normal life and losing what I’d achieved on the show.”
Seann Walsh and Katya Jones
Comic Seann Walsh was partnered with Katya Jones in 2018 – and it wasn’t long before the pair were caught on camera snogging.
At the time, she was married to fellow pro Neil Jones, and Seann had a girlfriend – actress Rebecca Humphries. They apologised for their discretion, blaming it on the booze. But Rebecca branded Seann a love rat and dumped him.
Katya said sorry and shared: “I wasn’t thinking and it was a one-off mistake after some drinks. I love my husband and we are very happy together, this is not a reflection on our relationship.”
Not for long, though. The following summer, Katya and Neil split.
Joe Sugg and Dianne Buswell
Turns out 2018 was quite the year for romance.
Pro dancer Dianne Buswell split from her boyfriend, Emmerdale actor Anthony Quinlan, while taking part in the competition with YouTube star Joe Sugg.
Anthony spoke to the papers at the time, denying there was a crossover. “We’re still really good friends – it’s just distance played a part. There were all these rumours about the Strictly curse but it wasn’t that.
“I’m actually rooting for Joe and Dianne. I still think the world of the girl. We were really close, it just wasn’t meant to be,” he said.
Dianne now lives with Joe in Brighton and documents their life together online.
Strictly curse: Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton
Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton were a match made in heaven as they danced around the Strictly floor in 2019.
Even her boyfriend of the time Sam Tucknott was amazed by their skills.
However, three months after they scooped the title, Stacey and Sam were no more – reportedly because he was paranoid about Stacey’s relationship with Kevin.
His worst fears appeared to have come true when Stacey and Kevin started dating.
They are still happily together today and are parents to a little girl, Minnie.
John Whaite and Johannes Radebe
Their chemistry in the 2021 series was off the charts – and John even admitted falling in love with JoJo.
He declared: “I fell in love with him. I can’t speak for him – because I’m not allowed to, legally – but it felt like there was love there. So yes, I fell in love with Johannes. I still love Johannes. Of course I do.”
Johannes hasn’t said much, and a romance between the two was never confirmed. However, after his admission, John briefly split from partner Paul Atkins before they tied the knot earlier this year.
Other love stories
An unusual success story from the show saw two individuals get together who were not paired, and they lasted.
Gemma Atkinson met the now father of her two children Gorka Marquez on Strictly in 2017. Their romance was kept under lock and key until after the show finished. However, Gemma was partnered with Aljaz Skorjanec, and Gorka danced with Alexandra Burke that season.
A few other couples also met on the show or the tour production are dating despite not being paired together. Max George and Maisie Smith and Tyler West and Molly Rainford are two celeb pairings.
A relationship expert spilled all on the so-called curse and explained why it happens. Hayley Quinn, dating expert for Match, told ED!: “Training for Strictly is demanding and means long hours away from your partner. The dances are often highly sensual and necessitates lots of physical touch. Dancing in this way also means that one person ‘leads’ the dance, and the other person ‘follows’; to dance well, the follower has to really submit to the leading of their dance partner, which creates a sexual dynamic.
“There’s also an intensity to participating in Strictly as a whole, which almost always becomes a bonding experience for the competitors. When we share an intense experience with someone else, it also creates a stronger connection to that person; so it’s easy to see why Strictly has created so many romances. ”
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturday nights on BBC One. Strictly Come Dancing: Secrets and Scandals is on Channel 5 on Sunday September 22 at 6.05pm.
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