NO MORE MAN EATING, SAYS THE SIBERIAN SIREN

VIEWERS may be surprised to learn that Siberian siren Kristina Rihanoff (left) is apparently delighted to have been partnered with Irish crooner Daniel O’Donnell. ‘She actually asked if she could have Daniel — she wanted it to be someone whom no one could make accusations about,’ I’m told. Indeed, despite pictures of Kristina staring deeply into the eyes of Peter Andre at the red-carpet Strictly launch earlier this week, the promise is that she will unveil a new, family-friendly image this series after being criticised for her flagrantly sexy choreography last year with Simon Webbe of boy band Blue — and, more importantly, the scandal surrounding her romance with previous dance partner, rugby star Ben Cohen, after he left Abbie, his wife of 12 years. Kristina Rihanoff believes her fellow professional dancers are jealous of her public profile following her offscreen partnership with Cohen and has complained of being ‘blanked’ while in make-up. ‘She is still feeling very sensitive about the way she has been portrayed. She is fed up with being presented as the “bad girl” and taking all the flak,’ says a friend. She and Cohen are apparently very happy together — they were photographed on holiday in Turkey this summer with Cohen’s twin daughters — and she has hopes of announcing an engagement before the series ends. They insist their relationship began only after his marriage to childhood sweetheart Abbie was over.