Kristina Rihanoff has risked the fury of her ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ bosses after appearing on rival show ‘The X Factor’.
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The professional dancer was seen sitting near Simon Cowell on Sunday (8 November) night’s results show, having starred on the pre-recorded ‘Strictly’ results show on BBC One just minutes earlier.
Kristina Rihanoff
The Sun claims she attended after being invited by Sinitta, who is close friends with Simon, but she didn’t have the permission of ‘Strictly’ producers to be there.
Kristina was seen sitting next to Sinitta in the show’s Wembley studios, and chatted to Simon during the ad breaks.
A source told the paper: “It’s no secret Kristina was at 'X Factor' – she was next to Simon and even announced by the warm-up man.
“She’s been friends with Sinitta a while and got to know Simon through her.”
They added that ‘Strictly’ bosses “knew nothing about” her ‘X Factor’ visit and “weren’t happy”.
However, their anger may not phase Kristina, as she recently hinted that she’s ready to leave the BBC ballroom show.
"For me, it's about deciding the next big thing because I love choreography, I love being a creative director. So we'll see about ‘Strictly’. I don't know what will happen, it's early days," she told the Daily Star.
Kristina recently hinted she was ready to leave 'Strictly'
One of the options she is considering is becoming a TV talent show judge, but she's admitted that she wouldn’t want to join Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell on the ‘Strictly’ panel, as it would be “too close to home”.
“I would love to do more work as a judge or as someone commentating on a show like ‘Strictly’,” she said. “I’ve seen all of the production side and the ins and outs of how everything works.
“But maybe I could do it on another show. I did commentary on ‘It Takes Two’ and I tried to be fair – it wasn’t an easy job.”
Kristina joined ‘Strictly’ in 2008 and her love life soon became a topic of much discussion, as she has enjoyed relationships with many of the show’s stars including Vincent Simone, Joe Calzaghe and Ben Cohen.
She partnered Daniel O’Donnell on this year’s series, but was voted out last month. She still continues to appear in the group dance routines.
‘Strictly Come Dancing’ continues on Saturday at 6.50pm on BBC One.