Top Three Strictly Romances

BRENDAN COLE AND NATASHA KAPLINSKY:

“You can’t hide chemistry,” admitted New Zealand-born Brendan Cole when quizzed recently about the rumours that surrounded his Strictly partnership with beautiful newsreader Natasha Kaplinsksy in 2004. To this day, he swears he was not unfaithful to his partner at the time, fellow professional Camilla Dallerup whom he had been dating for eight years. Though he and Camilla broke up during that series, three weeks into the show, he has always maintained there were other reasons for the split. And as for what went on between him and Natasha, he admitted they became “extremely close” but clarified, “I didn’t have an affair. Camilla chose to leave. Once you do something, after that it’s not an affair.”

RACHEL RILEY AND PASHA KOVALEV:

It’s five years since Pasha took Rachel on a series of spins around the BBC televised ballroom, sparking the start of a beautiful bond that has stood the test of time. The Countdown presenter wasn’t strictly on the market at the time. In fact, she was in the first year of marriage to Jamie Gilbert, the man she’s been with since school. Shortly after her appearance on the show, she announced that she and Jamie had split. Riley and Kovalev have always maintained that their relationship didn’t begin until after Rachel’s marriage was over.

SEANN AND KATYA:

It’s been called the “biggest scandal” ever to hit the show. And there have been a few, so that’s saying something. This year, it was comedian Seann Walsh and his professional dance partner Katya Jones at the centre of a tabloid storm, after they were papped having a drunken snog outside a London pub. The problem? Neither of them was single at the time.