Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen have reportedly “split” after 12 years (Image: WireImage)
Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Kristina Rihanoff has reportedly separated from her rugby star partner Ben Cohen after the pair met on the BBC show. The pair fell hopelessly in love on the long-running show when Ben was still with his ex-wife Abby.
While competing on the show, Kristina and Ben were reportedly struck by the Strictly curse, with the couple soon becoming an item after the sportsman separated from Abby. They later welcomed their daughter Mila together back in 2016. Friends of the couple told The Sun: “It’s like the curse in reverse. This will be like karma for Abby, she was so upset when Ben left her. It’s like he has got his comeuppance.” Express.co.uk has approached Kristina and Ben’s representatives for a comment.
The couple met on the show back in 2013 (Image: PA)
It comes after a court heard in September how the pair were so in debt that they were “fighting not to lose their relationship and their home” as the former Strictly professional appealed a conviction for driving without insurance.
At the time, the court heard how Ben and Kristina’s businesses, which include a yoga studio, suffered as a result of Covid. Ben said: “I get up every day and I fight not to lose everything to lose my cars and my house and my relationship. I’m so overdrawn.”
When he was asked about the impact of his financial struggles on his relationship with the ballroom dancer, he added: “We’re still living together. We’re in it financially. We’re in business together so the problem is that we opened the business before Covid and we got the worst severities of it and in all honesty this is just another problem for me to deal with.
“I’ve got credit cards that are overdrawn. I’m overdrawn in both accounts. We have got a business debt because of Covid. It’s just another problem.”
During his rugby career, Ben played for Northampton, Brive and Sale Sharks as well as the England teamfrom 2000 to 2006. The doting dad retired from the sport in 2011 and in recent years, appeared in various reality shows including The Jump, The Celebrity Chase, and The Real Full Monty.
Kristina rose to fame back in 2008 when she joined the cast of Strictly, taking part in eight series on the ballroom competition. She left the show in 2015 before she enterred the Celebrity Big Brother House the following year.
