Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Hauer's Kevin Clifton split 'got really nasty'

Daily Mirror

2 days ago

Karen Hauer has separated from her husband, fitness expert Jordan Wyn-Jones, following a 'difficult' period in their relationship
Strictly Come Dancing sensation Karen Hauer parted ways with her husband, fitness guru Jordan Wyn-Jones, after facing a 'difficult' patch in their marriage.
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The split came to light when the dance star was seen without her wedding band at the Pride of Britain Awards last year, just 16 months after their wedding.
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An insider told the Mirror the separation is 'deeply saddening for both parties', but stressed there's 'absolutely no animosity between them', adding: "The split is amicable, and they wish each other the best."
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Jordan marks Karen's third walk down the aisle, having previously been married to her one-time dance partner Matthew Hauer and then to 'Strictly' colleague Kevin Clifton - who has been with his current beau, Stacey Dooley, for five years now.
Karen has openly discussed feeling 'completely blindsided' by Kevin's swift move on in 2018, which left her struggling 'battling to get out of bed'. She described the breakup as the 'most challenging time of her existence', expressing gratitude to her rescue dog Betty for providing solace during her tough times, reports Wales Online.
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The duo, who tied the knot in 2015, originally met while performing in the New York run of the acclaimed dance show 'Burn The Floor' back in 2011.
During this time, Kevin was still wed to his second wife, ballet dancer Clare Craze, who he had met at a London salsa club in 2007 before exchanging vows at St Mary's Church in Clare's hometown of Wivenhoe, Essex.
Yet their union crumbled following their move to the UK with the show, and Kevin - who had previously wed amateur Latin world champion Anna Melnikova in 2003 - started his romance with Karen soon after.
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Kevin once confessed that Venezuelan professional dancer Karen was exactly what he had been looking for. He said: "I wasn't myself - a lot of friends and family were telling me that. It was just a bit of a weird time. When I met Karen, I could get on with her on a completely different level."
In 2015, he proposed on stage during a Burn The Floor performance on Karen's birthday, with the pair marrying in London later that year.
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Yet looking back on their rapid romance, Karen admitted to Closer magazine that perhaps they had rushed things. She revealed: "I don't think we were ready for marriage. We were still growing as performers, as people, as lovers, and sometimes you just can't find the right way to fix things."
By 2016, rumours of marital strife started to emerge, and Karen has since revealed their relationship "got really nasty overnight" as she battled mounting jealousy. "It's six years down the line and things started going wrong, just little things, like a phone call, like, 'You didn't call me the whole day','" she divulged on The Divorce Club podcast.
Discussing Kevin's reaction to her worries, she added: "Sometimes I would get the 'You're not very kind, you're not very nice' and I was like 'What do you mean? I don't understand.' There were little attacks that we would do to each other."
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Karen admitted that the real decline in their relationship began when she clung more tightly to the marriage out of her own insecurities, which only led to more disputes.
She said: "Then the fights, I was getting jealous, but I was only jealous because I wasn't getting the attention that I wanted from my husband and then I didn't understand why so I started gripping, trying to pull him. 'Why are you not doing this? Why are you not doing that?' Exactly what you're not supposed to do, I just wanted answers. And then it just got really nasty overnight."
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Despite trying counselling, Karen admitted there was "too much anger and emotional baggage" for it to work. One morning they woke up, looked at each other, and 'knew' it was over.
"Eventually we both couldn't take it anymore," she said. Kevin and Karen publicly confirmed their split in early 2018 but continued to work together on Strictly, complicating their efforts to move on.
Karen Hauer opened up about her desire to save her marriage, admitting: "I would have never let go of it. I wouldn't have never, never let go of it," she said.
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She reflected on the difficulty of moving on: "I would have liked to have fought for it and it took me a year after we separated to actually let go of him. It took me a long time to cut the umbilical cord that I had connected to him. Because it was connected for such a long time and at a completely different level than my first marriage, because this marriage was what I was always looking for."
Despite couples therapy not being effective for them, Karen sought personal therapy to heal post-separation. In 2018, she told Mail Online: "I've taken a big hit. I had to realise I'm 36 years old. I'm not a kid and it has taken me a lot of therapy and life coaching to get through this. I have found it really difficult."
At that time, she also shared her approach to tackling anxiety, revealing she underwent hypnotherapy and attended therapy sessions twice a month.
Following their split, Kevin Clifton started a relationship with his 2018 Strictly Come Dancing partner Stacey Dooley, while Karen found companionship with opera singer David Webb. Despite their personal lives taking different paths, the pair have maintained a friendly rapport, supporting each other's professional successes.
Karen was quick to congratulate Kevin and Stacey on their 2018 Strictly win, and he reciprocated by cheering for her and celebrity dance partner Jamie Laing in 2020.