We were like Fred and Ginger...it just clicked into place!
ented, very creative little girl. I have a hunch she might become an actress.”
Kai and Nadiya do not live together although their flats in west London are only a short distance apart. The remaining member of the loose menage is an English Bulldog called Snoopy.
Nadiya says: “He’s 18 months old and a big boy now. He lives with Kai who feeds him far too much. In fact, we’ve put him on a diet.
“He’s fully grown although not in the way he behaves. But he’s bilingual: he understands Russian as well as English.”
A native Ukrainian, Nadiya says she cannot believe it’s more than two years since Putin’s army marched into her homeland. She can clearly remember being in the UK at the time: “People were talking about the Russians marching into Ukraine. And I told everyone that was never going to happen.
“Then I woke up at 4am on February 24, switched on the radio and heard the news. I couldn’t believe it. I spoke to my father and we reckoned it would only last a week or two.
“And yet, here we are now. There isn’t a day when I don’t think about my grandmother and father who are still in Ukraine.
“My mum went there over Christmas to see her mother and she was interrogated before they’d let her back in and on the way out, too.
“It’s hard to explain the anxiety unless you’re living through it. I’d love my grandmother to come and live here but I understand, difficult as it is, that’s her home. It’s a constant worry.”
She also suffered shock and sadness when it was announced that dancer Robin Windsor had been found dead in a hotel bedroom in London in February, aged just 44. Nadiya had danced with him at the London Palladium in a production entitled Here Come The Boys.
“Robin will be missed by everyone,” she says.
‘Being a mother...it touched me deeply’
“He was such a lovely person, with a beautiful soul and a large heart.
“I was fortunate to share a stage with him when we performed together at the Palladium and I was able to see first hand what a wonderful Latin and ballroom dancer he was.
“He entertained us all with his beautiful style and elegance. He is much missed by all of us.”
Nadiya now has her fingers firmly crossed that she’ll get the call from Strictly inviting her to take part in the 2024 season after not being paired with a celebrity last year. She admits: “I was very disappointed. But what can you do?”
She also took solace from the happy pairing of Kai with veteran broadcaster Angela Rippon.
“She’s just incredible. How does that woman do it? Earlier this year, we were all on the Strictly tour and audiences loved her.
“She must be made of steel. I wonder if I’ll be able to kick as high when I reach 79. Kai did a great job with her.”
For The Children in Need special, Nadiya created a dance for a visually impaired teenager called Brianna who had been bullied at school, which reduced many in the TV audience to tears.
“Being a mother, it touched me deeply. I can truly say it added to my whole Strictly experience. I may not have had a celebrity partner but I did get to dance with a special young woman.”
Behind the Magic launches its 25-date run of theatres nationwide in Gateshead on June 1. Tickets from ticketmaster.co.uk and nadiyaandkai.com, as well as from venues.