Nadiya Bychkova is reflecting on her split from fellow Strictly Come Dancing professional Kai Widdrington.
The two dancers were an item for just over two years, before it was reported they’d parted ways in July 2024.
During an appearance on Thursday’s edition of Loose Women, Nadiya was asked about the break-up, and whether she’d found it easy to work alongside Kai on the latest series of Strictly.
“I don’t think any break-up is easy,” she said. “But we are professionals, so we obviously knew that we’d have to go back on Strictly and work together. And that’s what we do.”
Nadiya spoke out for the first time about the split in an interview with The Mirror last year, admitting at the time: “We work together but we are not friends and that’s OK.
“One thing I can tell you is that when you see me dancing with him it will be amazing because I’m a professional.”
She told Loose Women: “In life, it’s about how you deal with things. There’s so much thrown at us, you need to deal with things.”
“Maybe at some point we’ll be able to talk more about it… but right now it’s all about the tour,” she added, referring to her upcoming solo UK tour, which will feature dance performances as well as a Q&A session with the audience.
Elsewhere in her Loose Women interview, Nadiya admitted that she was shocked when her latest Strictly celebrity partner, Olympian Tom Dean, became the first contestant to be eliminated last year.
“I was surprised as well, but someone had to go first,” she said. “But I really enjoyed the time on the show that we had, Tom is just an incredible athlete – coming from Paris, bringing the gold medal from the Olympics straight on Strictly.
“For me, it was really special to teach an athlete when the hard work wasn’t even a question. That’s the only way he knows. Whenever he was telling me his preparation for races or the Olympics, it’s incredible, but then, obviously, for him being out of his comfort zone, and trying to do something with his feet and learn the choreography, it’s very different. But nothing was ever a problem, we got on really well.”
Loose Women airs every weekday from 12.30pm on ITV1. Watch Nadiya’s full interview below: