Dancing with the StarsStar Pasha Kovalev was teased about the Strictly curse on Tuesday's episode of This Morning.
The latest episode saw former Strictly pro Pasha, 44, join his former co-stars Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite on the sofa as they all teamed up for the 'legends of the dancefloor' tour.
However, the chat has moved on to Strictly, especially with the 2024 series launching on Saturday night. During the chat, Pasha said of the past and future celebrities taking part in the show: “Obviously the celebrities who are coming now, they’ve been exposed to all the success of the show that’s come before – they want to do better, they want to take themselves to the next level.”
Presenter Cat Deeley was quick to chime in with a cheeky remark, saying: “They want to have a husband and two children.” It was a hint that Pasha had found love with former celebrity dance partner Rachel Riley.
The duo were partners on Strictly back in 2013, and tied the knot in 2019, welcoming two children together. Seeing the funny side, Pasha joked: “It happens once in a blue moon!”
It comes as Pasha's wife and Countdown star Rachel revealed she has a four-word warning for celebrities considering signing up to Strictly. The maths expert, 38, told High Performance Woman A podcast where she always encourages potential participants to think carefully before taking part.
She said: “I don't tell people to take it lightly. People say, 'I've been offered this, should I do it?' In some cases, I'm being completely honest when I say, 'It's not all that easy.'
In fact, her dance partner – and now husband Pasha – advised her to see a therapist to help cope with the stress of the show. She explained: “When I was on Strictly. I had stage fright – I hadn’t had it before, but it was like an out-of-body experience.”
Rachel's therapist discovered that the root of her problem was her perfectionist nature, which didn't mesh well with the pressure of weekly live broadcasts.
She recalled: “I had never danced a single step in my life, and it was just terrible – on Sunday you come to dance a new dance, and on Saturday you dance in front of 10 million people.”
He suggested she try the breathing exercises she used on her last appearance on the show, and it worked. Her ambition was to get an eight from one judge, and in fact, as she recalled, “I got two eights the week I got kicked out!”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV and ITVX.