Strictly ‘double curse’ that tore controversial couples apart, wrecked careers & left homeless Corrie star sofa-surfing
BENEATH the sparkle and dazzle of Strictly Come Dancing lies a phenomenon that’s cast a shadow over the show for years – the dreaded curse.
Over the years, numerous celebrities have waltzed into the competition only to find their off-screen relationships crumbling.
While some have insisted it had nothing to do with the show, others brazenly ended up with the people they have been partnered with.
Many have been able to spin their controversial newfound relationships into lasting romances, but others have fallen victim to further misfortunes.
This week, it was revealed that former professional dancer Kristina Rihanoff, 46, and her fiance, Ben Cohen, 45, have been fighting to keep their relationship together.
Ben, a former rugby player, made the revelation after they appeared in court over Kristina driving her £30,000 Audi Q3 without insurance.
During the hearing, Ben said: “I wake up every day fighting not to lose everything—my cars, my house, and my relationship. I’m deeply overdrawn.”
Kristina and Ben were paired together during the 2013 edition of Strictly,
Once the series ended, Ben disclosed that he had split from Abby, his wife of over 11 years.
At the time, he was forced to deny he had an affair with Kristina after they were spotted linking arms while travelling on a London train.
The pair eventually went public with their relationship, welcomed their first child together in 2016, and got engaged.
They now join a growing list of celebrities and professionals who faced further misfortunes after falling victim to the Strictly Curse, as we reveal…
Joe Calzaghe and Kristina Rihanoff
Falling for Ben was not the first time Kristina tasted the Strictly curse.
Just one week into their pairing on the BBC show in 2009, boxer Joe Calzaghe, 52, sensationally split with Jo-Emma Larvin, his girlfriend of five years.
Shortly afterwards, he began a romance with his dance partner, Kristina.
In an interview at the time, Jo-Emma revealed she was concerned when Joe told her about his plans to join the show.
“I said to him, ‘Don’t they all end up having affairs?’, she said. “Then, the first week he started, we broke up. Make of that what you will.”
She added: “It all just happened so fast, I was really confused. I was a mess. Joe’s changed. The Joe of the last year or two is certainly not the Joe I fell in love with.”
Although Joe and Kristina’s relationship appeared solid, it did not last – they broke up after four years.
Explaining the reason for the split, Kristina said: “He wanted a girlfriend at home with his family in Wales, but he didn’t want to get married or have children and I didn’t want to give up that dream.
“And I won’t live a lie, because life is too short”.
She added: “He always found it difficult when I danced with other men.”
Georgia May Foote and Giovanni Pernice
Giovann Pernice‘s recent bullying scandal is not the first time he has been involved in controversy on the show.
Back in 2015, he was paired with former Coronation Street actress Georgia May Foote, 33.
Before that, she had been in a relationship with fellow Corrie actor Sean Ward.
Judging by her chemistry with Giovanni, 34, many fans wondered whether their relationship was strictly professional. Georgia assured fans that she was happy with Sean.
But after the series wrapped, she shockingly broke up with Sean only to start a new relationship with Giovanni.
At the time, it was reported that Sean’s insecurities over her closeness with Giovanni led to their split.
But their relationship did not survive.
Before the next series of the show kicked off, Georgia took to social media to write: “It is with great sadness we have decided to split up. There is nobody else involved.”
According to sources, their break up was a huge shock for Georgia as they had been thinking about the next stages of their relationship.
A source said at the time: ” She’s devastated and in shock because it was not something she was expecting.
“There’s a definite feeling among her friends and family that it was very convenient timing for him.”
Meanwhile, in August 2021, Sean was arrested during a London protest.
He later revealed he had struggled to get work and was forced to give up his four bed house.
Last year, Sean revealed he was homeless and sleeping on friends’ floors, and he also admitted he tried to take his own life in 2018.
He said “I know deeply how lonely [being cancelled] can be and isolating, after trying to take my own life in 2018 after discovering the evil on this planet and no one caring.
“I decided using whatever s**tty little platform I’d built through my acting career to at least try sieve through the propaganda together and thereby sabotaging my own reasonably successful career- to go from earning 120K a year to 12K a year, sleeping on a mates mattress is actually unfathomable to most people.”
Matt DiAngelo and Flavia Cacace
Italian dancer Flavia Cacace, 44, made headlines when she dumped fellow professional dancer Vincent Simone in 2007 for EastEnders star Matt DiAngelo, 37.
Before that, the pair had been in a relationship for eight years and had been long-term dance partners.
Vincent is said to have blamed Matt for the split and was allegedly furious about the flirtatious behaviour and late night conversations between the pair.
However, Matt insisted he did not act on his feelings for Flavia until he was certain that she was single.
He told Mirror: “When dancing 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.
“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.
“When I saw her in the Mrs Santa Claus outfit, I knew I’d fallen for her. I want Flavia to be my girlfriend and I don’t want to be big-headed but I think she wants to be with me too.”
But Flavia and Matt’s romance did not last – they split in 2010 with Flavia insisting their break up was amicable.
She blamed their busy work schedules for the failed relationship – but a few weeks later, she admitted she was dating her dance partner, actor Jimi Mistry.
She and Jimi are now married, while Matt is also married to wedding planner Sophia Perry.
Seann Walsh and Katya Jones
When it comes to the Strictly curse, very few have experienced it as harshly as comedian Seann Walsh, 38 and Katya Jones, 35.
In 2018, Sean, who had a girlfriend then, was paired with married professional dancer Katya.
But all hell broke loose when The Sun revealed that the pair had shared a passionate kiss outside a pub in London.
The news is said to have shocked Neil, Katya’s dancer husband, who also worked on the show, and Seann’s actress partner Rebecca Humphries.
Shortly after the revelation, Katya and Seann released grovelling apologies and blamed their antics on the booze.
He wrote on social media: “In light of the story in today’s newspaper I would like to offer my sincere apologies for my actions.
“This is no excuse but it was a one-off drunken mistake which I am truly sorry for.”
In the following weeks and months, the couple received intense public backlash. It even impacted his career with few people showing up for his gigs.
Seann, who was a contestant on I’m A Celebrity in 2022 told fellow campmates: “Easily the most depressing month of my entire life, Edinburgh after Strictly.
“We get to Edinburgh, right, I think it’s a 200-seater, I’ve never not in Edinburgh sold out the first night.
“It doesn’t even occur to me that it’s not sold out. Just before I’m about to go on, my agent comes in and goes, ‘Just so you know, there’s like 30 people.’
“To get told that when you’re just about to go on… horrific. It was at that point I was like, ‘Oh, oh..’. My career was dead, I was over.”
After the scandal, his girlfriend slammed him publicly and broke up with him.
Neil also divorced Katya and has now found love with Love Island‘s Chyna Mills. The couple welcomed their first child together last year.
Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev
Former EastEnders actress Kara Tointon and pro Artem Chigvintsev started dating in 2010, after they were partnered together on Strictly.
They were together for a few years but, after a lot of speculation they’d split, in 2014, she told the Telegraph: “We are not together. We’re fine, but we aren’t a couple any more.”
Kara added that it was due to the fact Russian Artem was unable to stay in the UK permanently, as he didn’t have a Visa, and they were struggling with the distance.
Artem went on to marry WWE star Nikki Bella in 2022, and has a four-year-old son Matteo with her.
However, earlier this month he was arrested for domestic abuse, after making a call to 911 for injuring Nikki.
Nikki has now filed for divorce.
Strictly's full scandal so far
Strictly Come Dancing's scandal has been growing over the past few months, with several major players speaking out about what went on. Here are the key moments of what's happened so far
16th May: Giovanni Pernice sensationally quits Strictly Come Dancing after nine years on the show.
17th May: Giovanni becomes the centre of an official investigation after three former partners – believed to be Amanda Abbington, Laura Whitmore and Ranvir Singh – make complaints to the BBC.
16th June: Giovanni releases an official statement vowing to clear his name and denies any wrongdoing.
8th July: Strictly confirms Aljaz Skorjanec will return to the series, replacing Giovanni, after initially quitting the show two years ago.
10th July: Amanda Abbington launches fresh legal proceedings to get the rehearsal footage from her time with Giovanni, after allegedly he refused to release the videos.
13th July: Graziano Di Prima is axed from Strictly for “gross misconduct” after footage of his treatment of Zara McDermott is brought to the attention of the BBC.
Graziano quickly broke his silence, apologising for his behaviour in a statement and saying he “deeply regrets it”, adding his “intense passion and determination to win might have affected his training regime.”
15th July: Strictly bosses implement new duty of care protocols, including having a chaperone present throughout all rehearsals.
16th July: Zara McDermott speaks out publicly for first time. She states while the production team were “amazing to work with”, she found the rehearsal room “completely different”, confirming there’s footage of “certain situations”.
19th July: Anton Du Beke is put under the spotlight for his “1970s attitude” and treatment of female celeb stars, particularly after allegedly referring to 2009 partner Laila Rouass as a “p***” after getting a spray tan.
21st July: Paralympian Will Bayley, who has limb condition arthrogryposis, revealed he was encouraged to leap from a table during a dance routine, despite fears. The stunt caused an injury that forced him to withdraw from the show.
22nd July: MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace admits he broke down in tears and got a nasty stress rash on his face during his time on Strictly in 2014.
22nd July: Despite ongoing issues, the Strictly professional cast begin rehearsals for this year’s series.
23rd July: Celebrity agent Melanie Blake claims she was sexually assaulted by an unnamed pro dancer while backstage on the show, and claims she witnessed ageism, rudeness and a rough treatment to the point of injury.
23rd July: Strictly is forced to beef up security after ‘an intruder scales the wall of the rehearsal studio’.
23rd July: BBC boss Tim Davie breaks his silence on the ongoing allegations against Strictly, saying he is ‘deeply sorry’, adding: “Hundreds of people, be they pros, contestants or crew have been part of it and had a brilliant experience.
“At the same time if someone thinks there was something wrong or they want to talk about their experience then of course we want them to raise that with us. Be in no doubt we will take it seriously, listen and deal with it as appropriate.”
24th July: Strictly 2023 star Krishnan Guru-Murthy holds a bombshell interview with Amanda Abbington on Channel 4 news, where she claims she was bullied, with some of the ‘humilation being of a sexual nature’.
27th July: Laura Whitmore releases a statement regarding her Strictly experience, saying “I thought my experience was specific to me but I’ve since learned I was wrong”.
She adds she is not part of the official complaint, but has come forward to support Amanda with the BBC, alongside others.
28th July: Laila Rouass speaks out against the accusations regarding Anton Du Beke, saying she “never felt pressured” by him and “personally insisted on six to seven hours training a day”.
10th August: Graziano breaks his silence on his Strictly axe, saying “these vile, false allegations have ruined my life.”
He also told of the “shocking” end to his friendship with Zara McDermott.
We also revealed that Amanda Abbington was also quizzed for a second time as Strictly execs recruited 15 new staff to monitor rehearsals.
11th August: Just as the investigation was expected to conclude, Amanda made a dramatic intervention. Giovanni was on the brink of being cleared until Amanda handed in more text messages.
24th August: Graziano Di Prima called in top lawyers to sue the BBC and to try to clear his name. He recruited big hitters Whitestone Chambers to fight his corner.
A source said: “They’ve also looked at his BBC contract and believe there are grounds to sue.”
Meanwhile, the BBC also delayed releasing the findings of the probe into Giovanni Pernice. The Sun revealed that the results of the three-month investigation were unlikely to be announced in August.