Strictly Come Dancing’s Karen Hauer recalls breakdown of Kevin Clifton marriage: ‘I would’ve fought for it’

Strictly Come Dancing’s Karen Hauer opened up about the breakdown of her marriage to Kevin Clifton, insisting she didn’t want it to end.

The professional dancers – who appeared alongside each other on the BBC series – were married for three years before they decided to split in 2018.

Since their divorce, Kevin has moved on with TV presenter Stacey Dooley, while Karen recently called time on her romance with David Webb.

Appearing on The Divorce Club podcast with Samantha Baines, the 38-year-old lifted the lid on their marriage ending, insisting that she wanted to fight for their bond.

‘Obviously, other things happen, there are other factors that happened, that really hurt us both,’ she told the host. ‘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.’

Karen also revealed that it took her a very, very long time to shut off her connection to Kevin – but she learned a lot from their romance ending.

‘It took me a long time to cut the umbilical cord that I had connected to him,’ she continued. ‘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 it was a huge learning, I learned a lot. Huge lessons for me. Because of that breakup and what I had to go through emotionally, physically work wise, in the press 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. 

‘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.’

Kevin and Karen first met while appearing on Burn the Floor, and tied the knot in 2015.

Explaining what led to their divorce, the dancer explained that she became ‘jealous’ because she wasn’t getting the ‘attention’ she wanted from her partner.

Things spiralled, and it ‘got really nasty overnight’, with the couple facing a lot of ‘pressure’ from outside forces.

‘There was a lot of pressure, and all I wanted was to protect what I had with him. And eventually we both couldn’t take it anymore,’ she added.

‘I still have a lot of love for my exes. But when you wake up and you know, you know that this is ending today. It really felt like that, it was ending today and I got out of bed. We looked at each other and we knew.’

The Divorce Club podcast with Samantha Baines is available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts now.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.

MORE : Caroline Flack’s family release unseen family photos ahead of Channel 4 documentary

MORE : Paddy McGuinness and Freddie Flintoff left ‘shaken and stirred’ in new Top Gear trailer