Strictly’s Karen Hauer reveals marriage to Kevin Clifton ended because she grew jealous after not getting attention
STRICTLY’S Karen Hauer split from her husband Kevin Clifton after growing jealous of the lack of attention he paid her during the show – but she wanted to fight for their marriage.
Kevin was partnered with stunning celebs including Frankie Bridge, Louise Redknapp and Susanna Reid on the BBC dance competition.
The ballroom professional opened up her heart this week and said she wished she’d have tried to save their three-year-union which ended in 2018.
Karen, 38, went on to say how “things had got really nasty overnight” after she said she felt she wasn’t getting enough attention from Kevin.
Speaking about how the relationship went wrong she said: “I was getting jealous. I was only jealous because I wasn’t getting the attention I wanted from my husband.”
Along with Frankie, 32, in 2014, and Louise, 46, in 2016, Kevin, 38, was also paired with Good Morning Britain’s Susanna Reid, 50, and EastEnders actress Kelly Bright, 44.
She explained: “Obviously, other things happen, there are other factors that happened, that really hurt us both.
“But I thought… I would have never let go of it. I wouldn’t have never, never let go of it.
“I would have liked to have fought for it. It took me a year after we separated to actually let go of him.”
After they split in 2018, Karen continued to work with Kevin on Strictly Come Dancing and at the time the pair said they’d remained friends.
Karen also watched Kevin’s romance with his now girlfriend Stacey Dooley, 33, who he was paired with in 2019, flourish.
And while they managed to keep their split amicable, Venezuelan born Karen said she found it hard to distance herself from him.
Speaking on The Divorce Club Podcast with Samantha Baines, Karen added: “It took me a long time to cut the umbilical cord that I had connected to him.
“Because it was connected for such a long time and at a completely different level than my first marriage, because this marriage was what I was always looking for. But I learned a lot.
“Huge lessons for me. Because of that breakup and what I had to go through emotionally, physically work wise and in the public eye.
“It made me stronger, and it made me realise what I really need to work on, and that was me.”
“I had to work with him for two, three years after we got separated and it was hard because you can see how much love you have for one another, and the respect.”
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Three years on from their break-up, Karen said she only now understands why they split.
The dancer, who is single following her break up with opera singer David Webb last Autumn, added: “Under different circumstances of better understanding of ourselves, of what we actually needed, and to actually just sit down and have some time for ourselves,
“I think that it would have worked.”