Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen are ‘fighting’ for their home and relationship amid money woes.
The Strictly Come Dancing couple were paired together on the BBC Latin and ballroom show in 2013 before having a daughter together three years later, and announcing their engagement in 2022.
The pro dancer, 46, was in court last week after being caught driving her Audi Q3 – which is worth £30,000 – without any insurance in April.
She and her Rugby World Cup winner partner, 45, appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Friday, where Ben acted as Kristina’s witness.
During a 20 minute account, he said: ‘I get up every day and I fight not to lose everything – to lose my cars and my house and my relationship.’
In an emotional statement, he continued: ‘We’re still living together… We’re in it financially.
‘We’re in business together so the problem is that we opened the business before Covid and we got the worst severities of it and in all honestly this is just another problem for me to deal with.’
He admitted to having credit cards overdrawn, as well as ‘a business in debt because of Covid’.
Kristina was seen crying in court, and had to leave at one point with her hands over her mouth as she felt ill.
When she returned, she was wrapped in a blanket and dabbed her eyes with a tissue during the rest of the hearing.
She needs to drive around the UK to judge ballroom competitions, which provide her with £2,000 a month, while she also has to take her children to school, the court heard.
Ben noted that he was the one responsible for insuring the couple’s cars, but her vehicle had been uninsured after he ignored a message from their insurance company.
The pair were partnered together in 2013, while Kristina left the show as a professional two years later, and she has since become a qualified yoga instructor, having graduated as a trainer to help others learn to teach.
Kristina wrote on Instagram last year: ‘And just like that it is over … My very first Yoga Teacher Training at @sooyogauk came to an end yesterday with 13 new qualified yoga teacher under my guidance. (sic)’
