Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer has revealed she does believe in the so-called ‘Strictly curse’.
In the 20 years since the show began on BBC, there has been speculation about relationships forming between celebrity contestants and professional dancers.
Although some of the show’s rumours have been just that, others have turned out to be true after couples met and fell in love while competing on the series.
Now Karen, who was previously married to fellow pro dancer Kevin Clifton, who met his now-wife Stacey Dooley on Strictly, has weighed in.
The Venezuelan-born dancer, 42, has appeared as a professional dancer on the long-running series since 2012, previously being paired with stars including Mark Wright, Jeremy Vine and the late Dave Myers.
When questioned about the curse in a recent interview, she said: ‘I’ve seen things. I’m not gonna talk about them. It exists. It’s there.
‘Whoever wants to go and play, that’s there on them. It’s like any other job – it just happens.
‘People are like, “oh but you guys are so sexy and you’re so close up and personal”, and I’m like, listen, I’ve been up and close and personal with a lot of people, but I don’t go there because I respect my job and I respect people.’
However, her co-star Gorka Marquez, who is engaged to and shares two children with former Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson, didn’t agree.
‘No. That happens everywhere. It could happen everywhere. It’s just one of those things. To be honest, I always said, if it happens, it’s because the people are not really happy. So, it doesn’t matter what it is,’ he shared when they spoke to OK!
Karen was married to former dance partner Matthew Hauer for nine years until 2009, going on to marry Kevin in 2015, but they split three years later.
She was then married to Jordan Wyn-Jones however their marriage ended after 16 months.
Earlier this year Karen went public with her new partner Simon Davidson, an ex-rugby player and personal trainer.
However, when speaking about her current relationship recently, Karen has taken a subtle dig at her ex-husbands.
When asked whether she was willing to walk down the aisle again, Karen revealed she would ‘never say never’ and was currently ‘smitten’ in her new relationship.
‘The marriage doesn’t go wrong; it is the person. You think you know someone and then you don’t. But that’s why I am taking it slow and really getting to know Simon before taking the next step,’ she said.
‘As you get older you’ve been through so many marriages and divorces, I’ve nothing left to fight about as I’ve fought about it already. I travel a lot. He lives in Manchester; the time we do spend together we don’t want to waste arguing about things that don’t matter.
‘I now understand what I really need from a partner – support and understanding but from but from both ways,’ she added when speaking to The Mirror.
In January the couple, who were introduced by Gorka Marquez and his partner Gemma Atkinson, confirmed their relationship on social media when posting a photo of them hiking in the countryside.
Simon works in marketing at Adidas, focusing on boxing, cricket and rugby and also competes in CrossFit events all over the world.
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He captioned the original image: ‘Things can change in an instant. Try to live in the moment you never know what may happen.’
Karen and Jordan, 35, married in June 2022, however a source later told The Mirror after a ‘tough’ few months they’d split, but that it was ‘amicable’ and there was ‘no ill-will whatsoever’.
He later told The Mail on Sunday they were ‘not right for each other in terms of her career’ as she travelled significantly for work, which was also delaying his wishes to start a family.
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Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC later this year.
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