By Halina Watts
The brave Strictly star had a brush with death in a horror car crash but was dancing again just as week later
She’s one of Strictly Come Dancing’s biggest stars but Kristina Rihanoff has revealed she nearly died on her journey to TV fame.
The ambitious 35-year-old was involved in a horrific car crash when she lived in America.
The car was written off and Kristina badly damaged her knee.
But she refused to stop dancing and bravely took part in a competition the next week.
Now her brush with death gives her strength to always try her best in the hit BBC1 show.
Kristina, who partners movie star Colin Salmon in the current series, said: “In my 20s I thought I was invincible. “I was in America and I had a bad car accident when I was 25. “I was with my husband and my dance partner at that time, and a guy ran the red light and smashed into us. “Our car was completely written off but thankfully we were OK. “The guy who picked the car up said, ‘I see people dead for less’. I was terrified but I was more scared not to dance in the competition the next week. “The doctor said, ‘You are crazy, you can not go’. I said I have to. I look back and think I can’t believe I did that. “I didn’t break any bones, I just smashed my knee up. Thank God, I was OK.” She told the Sunday People the ordeal has made her even more determined to win this year’s Strictly. Kristina, who met her boxer boyfriend Joe Calzaghe when he was her partner on the show three years ago, has helped film heartthrob Colin, 49, become a hit in the latest series. The couple performed the foxtrot to Aretha Franklin’s Accentuate The Positive on last night’s show. And Kristina - whose previous dance partners include John Sergeant, 68, and Jason Donovan, 44 – thinks she has the best relationship with Colin. She said: “With Colin, in a funny way, it is the relationship that gells the most. “It is different than Joe. With Joe we have a chemistry, we liked each other. It was funny because we didn’t want to show it. “With Colin it’s different because it is a friendship more than a chemistry. He is a really cool customer and he knows what he is doing. “But dancing with Colin has its challenges because he is a foot and three inches taller than me. I feel so tiny next to him. “He has never danced before but he has a very natural ability.” Kristina was also thrilled to have Royal Ballet legend Darcey Bussell, 43, as a new judge this year because she is a big fan of hers. The Russian-born blonde said: “My dream started with ballet. When I was five I said to my mum, ‘Take me to ballet school’. “I went but they didn’t take me because I didn’t have the right physique. The lady said to my mum, ‘She will never be a prima ballerina, it will be extremely difficult and painful for her to do it’. She said it would be better to do ballroom dancing. “That day I felt like my life was over. I was crying my eyes out for a couple of days.
Lovers: Kris fell for Joe on Strictly[Getty]
”Then my mum took me to ballroom school and I loved it. But I still did ballet because it is the ABC of all groundings. “I know how hard it is and what Darcey achieved in her career is incredible.” Kristina will not be swapping dancing for changing baby nappies any time soon, even though she is keen to have a family. She fell in love with boxer Joe, 40, in the 2009 series and says he understands how important dancing is to her. She said: “I think what is great about Joe and I is that he had a similar life to what mine is like now. “His family and everyone supported him throughout his camaybe reer and he knows how important that support is for me. “Like any woman I want kids, I’m a Russian woman too and for Russian women, it’s very strong. “I would love to have kids with Joe but we are not planning it. “It’s up to me to see how it goes. I am at the top of my career now and I worked so hard to get to that point. “I came from nothing, and I moved from Russia to the United States and from the States to here. It was extremely hard to keep giving up my friends in order to pursue my dreams.
Learner: She says Colin is a natural[BBC]
”Joe knows how much I gave up to have what I have now – the show gave me everything. “It gave me Joe too and I thank Strictly for helping me find love.” Joe, who grew up in South Wales with his Italian dad and Welsh mum, waltzed into Kristina’s life shortly after he retired as the undefeated super middleweight and light heavyweight world champ. Kristina, recalling how she fell for him, said: “People fall in love on the show because it is very intimate and very nerve-racking. “You get nervous and vulnerable and then you see each other for what you really are. “You don’t have time to cover yourself. You put your emotions are out there. I remember Joe was squeezing my hand before he went out there. “He was so nervous and it was so sweet. I was taking him on a journey in my world. “The man can have a knock out with anyone in the ring but he was nervous about dancing with me. “That showed me he can be vulnerable and sensitive.”
Original Source Artical : www.mirror.co.uk
Link Source: www.thecelebritywatch.com
Kristina, who partners movie star Colin Salmon in the current series, said: “In my 20s I thought I was invincible. “I was in America and I had a bad car accident when I was 25. “I was with my husband and my dance partner at that time, and a guy ran the red light and smashed into us. “Our car was completely written off but thankfully we were OK. “The guy who picked the car up said, ‘I see people dead for less’. I was terrified but I was more scared not to dance in the competition the next week. “The doctor said, ‘You are crazy, you can not go’. I said I have to. I look back and think I can’t believe I did that. “I didn’t break any bones, I just smashed my knee up. Thank God, I was OK.” She told the Sunday People the ordeal has made her even more determined to win this year’s Strictly. Kristina, who met her boxer boyfriend Joe Calzaghe when he was her partner on the show three years ago, has helped film heartthrob Colin, 49, become a hit in the latest series. The couple performed the foxtrot to Aretha Franklin’s Accentuate The Positive on last night’s show. And Kristina - whose previous dance partners include John Sergeant, 68, and Jason Donovan, 44 – thinks she has the best relationship with Colin. She said: “With Colin, in a funny way, it is the relationship that gells the most. “It is different than Joe. With Joe we have a chemistry, we liked each other. It was funny because we didn’t want to show it. “With Colin it’s different because it is a friendship more than a chemistry. He is a really cool customer and he knows what he is doing. “But dancing with Colin has its challenges because he is a foot and three inches taller than me. I feel so tiny next to him. “He has never danced before but he has a very natural ability.” Kristina was also thrilled to have Royal Ballet legend Darcey Bussell, 43, as a new judge this year because she is a big fan of hers. The Russian-born blonde said: “My dream started with ballet. When I was five I said to my mum, ‘Take me to ballet school’. “I went but they didn’t take me because I didn’t have the right physique. The lady said to my mum, ‘She will never be a prima ballerina, it will be extremely difficult and painful for her to do it’. She said it would be better to do ballroom dancing. “That day I felt like my life was over. I was crying my eyes out for a couple of days.
Lovers: Kris fell for Joe on Strictly[Getty]
”Then my mum took me to ballroom school and I loved it. But I still did ballet because it is the ABC of all groundings. “I know how hard it is and what Darcey achieved in her career is incredible.” Kristina will not be swapping dancing for changing baby nappies any time soon, even though she is keen to have a family. She fell in love with boxer Joe, 40, in the 2009 series and says he understands how important dancing is to her. She said: “I think what is great about Joe and I is that he had a similar life to what mine is like now. “His family and everyone supported him throughout his camaybe reer and he knows how important that support is for me. “Like any woman I want kids, I’m a Russian woman too and for Russian women, it’s very strong. “I would love to have kids with Joe but we are not planning it. “It’s up to me to see how it goes. I am at the top of my career now and I worked so hard to get to that point. “I came from nothing, and I moved from Russia to the United States and from the States to here. It was extremely hard to keep giving up my friends in order to pursue my dreams.
Learner: She says Colin is a natural[BBC]
”Joe knows how much I gave up to have what I have now – the show gave me everything. “It gave me Joe too and I thank Strictly for helping me find love.” Joe, who grew up in South Wales with his Italian dad and Welsh mum, waltzed into Kristina’s life shortly after he retired as the undefeated super middleweight and light heavyweight world champ. Kristina, recalling how she fell for him, said: “People fall in love on the show because it is very intimate and very nerve-racking. “You get nervous and vulnerable and then you see each other for what you really are. “You don’t have time to cover yourself. You put your emotions are out there. I remember Joe was squeezing my hand before he went out there. “He was so nervous and it was so sweet. I was taking him on a journey in my world. “The man can have a knock out with anyone in the ring but he was nervous about dancing with me. “That showed me he can be vulnerable and sensitive.”
Original Source Artical : www.mirror.co.uk
Link Source: www.thecelebritywatch.com
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