Latest news with #KarenHauer
Daily Mail
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Strictly's Karen Hauer tearfully reveals she 'would have stayed' with ex-husband Kevin Clifton as she insists they 'belonged together'
Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer emotionally opened up about the breakdown of her second marriage to Kevin Clifton, as she insisted they 'belonged together'. The Venezuelan-American ballroom specialist, 43, married the dancer in 2015 - three years after joining Strictly 's team of professionals. They announced their divorce in 2018, but Karen has admitted the separation played out behind the scenes for months before she finally confirmed they were no longer together. Appearing on the latest edition of Paul C. Brunson's podcast, We Need To Talk, Karen insisted it was she who instigated the separation when it became clear that he had 'distanced himself' from the marriage. She said: 'This one hurt, because we belonged together. You wouldn't say each other's names without following the other person's name. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'I felt that he distanced himself from me, but I was probably doing the same. Because I felt that if you don't want me then OK, I'll retreat, I'll give you your space. It was one of those, where we're both not talking about it. 'I was like, "Do you want a divorce? Do you want to split up? I don't know what I want to do. What do you want to do? Do you know what you want? I don't know what I want. Are we broken up?"' 'So it took a while actually, it took about a year... behind the scenes. In front of the scenes everything was normal. 'We fell apart, and me not knowing... obviously, I didn't know what was happening in his mind and whether he wanted to be with me or not.' Despite calling time on the marriage after just three years, Karen claimed she would have worked at salvaging their relationship had he wanted to be with her. She said: 'I knew that I would've worked on it - I would've stayed. But at the same time, I couldn't be with someone who wasn't sure of whether they wanted to be with me or not. I couldn't wait. 'I waited for a while, and I was giving him his space to think, and then funnily enough I met someone. I was literally waiting to be loved. 'He just wanted a divorce, and I didn't fight it. Something had to happen in order for him to make a decision, because I wasn't going to make the decision. 'I wasn't going to pull the plug. So then I tripped and then the grenade went off. You know, I pulled the pin.' She added: 'It was tough for him, tough for me. It was tough for both of us at that moment. 'I could see he didn't want to let go. But that didn't give him any choice. He had to do the right thing for himself.' Despite their separation, Karen insisted she and Kevin maintained a mutual admiration for one another as trained professionals on Strictly Come Dancing. She said: 'The respect we had for each other in the workplace. We respected one another, you know. 'We never said a bad word about one another. I think that's because we hold each other to such a high regard, you know. 'There will always be love there. So, we still danced together on the show and we were still working around each other. We would still applaud each other, support each other. 'We never lost that and that was what was really sad, that we could and transfer that onto our relationship.' Kevin subsequently embarked on a new relationship with documentarian Stacey Dooley after the pair won Strictly together in 2018. The couple welcomed their daughter Minnie together in 2023. Meanwhile Karen went on to date opera singer David Webb before entering a new relationship with businessman Jordan Wyn-Jones, the man who would ultimately become her third husband. The dancer married Jordan in 2022 after they met online, but they divorced just 16 months later. She is now dating Simon Davidson, a former rugby player. The pair sparked dating speculation in December 2023 when they were seen leaving the Strictly Come Dancing final together, and later at a Birmingham hotel during the Strictly live tour. They then finally confirmed their romance in January 2024 by sharing a snap on Instagram of them cuddled up together during a countryside walk.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Strictly's Karen Hauer shares emotional behind-the-scenes of Kevin Clifton split
Karen Hauer has opened up about her divorce from her former husband and fellow Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton, admitting the couple were 'pretending' for the last year of their relationship. Speaking to Celebs Go Dating relationships expert Paul C Brunson about their 2018 divorce, the dancer said that Clifton had 'distanced himself' from the marriage. Hauer said she began to do the same 'because I felt that if you don't want me then OK, I'll retreat, I'll give you your space'. The star said the last year of their three-year marriage was spent "pretending everything was normal'. Hauer married Clifton in 2015, three years after she joined the BBC show's team of professional dancers.
Daily Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Strictly's Karen Hauer breaks down in tears as she speaks about her toxic third marriage to Jordan Wyn-Jones for the first time
Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer broke down in tears as she spoke about the breakdown of her toxic third marriage to Jordan Wyn-Jones for the first time. The dancer, 43, married Jordan in 2022 after they met online, but they divorced just 16 months later. Speaking in a moving interview on Paul C. Brunson's We Need To Talk podcast, Karen broke down in tears as she accused her ex of leaving her 'emotionally battered', and admitted she was lying to loved ones about her struggles. She said: 'I was just in panic mode, panic mode, love should not be panic. It's almost like he made up things to scare me so that I wouldn't go anywhere. 'But it's OK and I get on with it, I get on with it and smile because I don't want to cause trouble, I don't want to shake things up because that puts you in a bad mood which then makes my day really awful, and that's the state I lived in... From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the Daily Mail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. 'I was not only lying to my family and friends and they were seeing it, but I was lying to him as well, because that was the only way I could get through the day, that would keep the peace.' Breaking down in tears, Karen added that she begun to suffer hair loss caused by autoimmune disease alopecia, which she believes was her nervous system responding to the stress she was under. She went onto reveal that on the day she was due to marry Jordan, her brother confronted her and said she needed to leave the relationship. When Karen and Jordan tied the knot in Hampshire, they sold their wedding snaps to magazine Hello!, and at the time she described her big day as a 'fairytale.' But in her hard-hitting interview with Paul, Karen painted a very different story, revealing: 'Everyone was trying to stop this from happening and I wish they would have just taken me, grabbed me and put me in a car, and I would have kicked and screamed, but I wouldn't have gone through more hell.' Speaking of Jordan, she said: 'He didn't hurt me physcally so you couldn't see it. It was there, digging, digging, digging ... 'Every dig every text, every call, why did I let someone do that to me?' Karen added that her friends eventually tried to stage an intervention to try and convince her to end the relationship. Sharing her most challenging moment in the ordealKaren said: 'There was a weekend I had to work but Pink was in concert and my two best friends, we got tickets and I was able to get away as an excuse as well that I was working down in London so I came down. 'I cried for the first 35 minutes of the show. The freedom of being out there with my friends and them holding me up. And going, 'You have to do this'. 'And then obviously the phone call from him (Jordan), 'Why did you take your luggage?' It's almost that he knew what was coming. 'I remember that moment, ''I have to, I have to do it because if not something is going to happen to me.'' Karen said things turned nasty between herself and Jordan following their split, adding: 'He started losing control of me and it was game-on from him. 'He pulled every shot, every string, did everything he needed to do to try and get my attention and try to get me away from what I was doing to go and see him.' The star admitted that Jordan begged her to take him back insisting he 'would change,' but he still made their divorce 'difficult.' Originally from Brighton, Wyn-Jones was living in Sydney when he began following Hauer on Instagram. She followed him back and they began to exchange messages before regularly speaking on FaceTime. The businessman eventually relocated to the UK, with the couple marrying in 2022, but the marriage soon crumbled and the couple announced their separation just 16-months later. She said: 'I got myself into a relationship that I shouldn't have. I felt embarrassed that I couldn't keep anyone around me and I said to myself, 'No, I'm not going to get into a relationship... spend some time on your own.' 'But I don't know how to be on my own.' Looking back on their relationship, Hauer says her former husband rarely contributed financially after moving into the home she owned before they met. 'He was saying to me I'm going to get a job soon, I'm going to help out when I can. But I work hard for my money and I was bankrolling everything,' she claimed. 'I wasn't home alone, but there was nothing that fulfilled me. He wasn't providing anything, there was no enhancement in my emotional being, my physical being. 'I was working, doing my thing, coming in and out of the house and letting him settle down.' Karen also admitted her family saw the red flags long before the relationship turned toxic and she found herself in 'a situation she couldn't control.' She recalled: 'They weren't excited by him at all because to other people it was like a big no. Like no, she'll get rid of him quick. And I didn't because it just got worse. ''I don't have what you have.' Well, yeah, but I need to go to work every day. 'Yeah, but I never see you.' 'Then 'Oh, but are you cheating on me?' No, no, I'm not, I'm not cheating on you. 'So, are you cheating?' No. No, I'm not cheating on you. I just like that person's Instagram post. ''Are you sure you're not sleeping with that person?' No, no, no. 'Can you send me a picture of where you are and who you're with?' 'l had to check in everywhere I went.' She added: 'Whatever he had going on, whatever was happening, I didn't want to be a part of it. So, I'd just leave. I'd just go away and then I'd come back. 'When can I come back home? Five days later. Okay. Are the dogs okay? Yeah, they're fine. You can come back now.' 'But the grip that he had on me, it paralysed me. It's really hard to explain. When he proposed to me, I didn't tell anybody. 'Why was I so attached to this feeling of insecurity, of gaslighting to the max. In my previous relationships, there was no such thing as that. There were probably hints of it, but this was at a different level. 'Finding myself in a situation where I couldn't control because I was afraid.' During the interview, Karen also reflected on her protracted and painful divorce from Kevin Clifton, saying they maintained a professional facade on Strictly while behind-the-scenes their three year marriage fell apart. The Venezuelan-American ballroom specialist, 43, married Clifton, her second husband, in 2015 - three years after joining Strictly's team of professionals. They would announce their divorce in 2018, and Hauer admits the separation played out behind the scenes for months before she finally confirmed they were no longer together. Karen insisted it was she who instigated the separation when it became clear that he had 'distanced himself' from the marriage. She said: 'This one hurt, because we belonged together. You wouldn't say each other's names without following the other person's name. 'I felt that he distanced himself from me, but I was probably doing the same. Because I felt that if you don't want me then OK, I'll retreat, I'll give you your space. It was one of those, where we're both not talking about it. 'I was like, 'Do you want a divorce? Do you want to split up? I don't know what I want to do. What do you want to do? Do you know what you want? I don't know what I want. Are we broken up?'' 'So it took a while actually, it took about a year... behind the scenes. In front of the scenes everything was normal. 'We fell apart, and me not knowing... obviously, I didn't know what was happening in his mind and whether he wanted to be with me or not.' Despite calling time on the marriage after just three years, Hauer claimed she would have worked at salvaging their relationship had he wanted to be with her. She said: 'I knew that I would've worked on it - I would've stayed. But at the same time, I couldn't be with someone who wasn't sure of whether they wanted to be with me or not. I couldn't wait. 'I waited for a while, and I was giving him his space to think, and then funnily enough I met someone. I was literally waiting to be loved. 'He just wanted a divorce, and I didn't fight it. Something had to happen in order for him to make a decision, because I wasn't going to make the decision. 'I wasn't going to pull the plug. So then I tripped and then the grenade went off. You know, I pulled the pin.' She added: 'It was tough for him, tough for me. It was tough for both of us at that moment. 'I could see he didn't want to let go. But that didn't give him any choice. He had to do the right thing for himself.' Despite their separation, Hauer insisted she and Clifton maintained a mutual admiration for one another as trained professionals on Strictly Come Dancing. She said: 'The respect we had for each other in the workplace. We respected one another, you know. 'We never said a bad word about one another. I think that's because we hold each other to such a high regard, you know. 'There will always be love there. So, we still danced together on the show and we were still working around each other. We would still applaud each other, support each other. 'We never lost that and that was what was really sad, that we could and transfer that onto our relationship.' Clifton subsequently embarked on a new relationship with documentarian Stacey Dooley after meeting her on the set of Strictly Come Dancing. The couple welcomed a daughter together in 2023. Meanwhile, Hauer will return to Strictly Come Dancing this year following recent claims that she had been axed. It was rumoured that the programme's longest-serving dancer had been dropped by bosses, sparking an 'ageism' row among the cast. But Hauer will be back as normal when the series returns in September. The dancer, who joined the lineup in 2012, is yet to win the glitter ball trophy but has reached several finals including with celebrity partners Made In Chelsea's Jamie Laing and former TOWIE star Mark Wright. Last year, she was partnered with former footballer Paul Merson, 57, but the pair were eliminated in week five and the previous season the dancer performed with DJ Eddie Kadi. A TV source told MailOnline: 'Karen is a well loved and respected member of the Strictly cast and there's no way she would be axed, especially not because of her age.
The Sun
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Heartbreaking moment Strictly's Karen breaks down in tears as she speaks for first time about ‘toxic' marriage
STRICTLY'S Karen Hauer has broken down in tears as she opened up for the first time about her 'toxic' marriage to ex Jordan Wyn-Jones. In a raw and emotional interview on Paul C Brunson' s We Need To Talk podcast podcast Karen, 43, described a relationship filled with fear and control, saying she started losing her hair from stress. 8 8 8 8 Dressed in a white suit and adidas trainers, the Strictly favourite had tears streaming down her face as she accused her ex of leaving her "emotionally battered". The dancer confessed to living a double life, lying to friends, family – and even to Jordan just to get through the day. She said: "I was just in panic mode, panic mode, love should not be panic. "It's almost like he made up things to scare me so that I wouldn't go anywhere. "But it's ok and I get on with it, I get on with it and smile because I don't want to cause trouble, I don't want to shake things up because that puts you in a bad mood which then makes my day really awful, and that's the state I lived in ... "I was not only lying to my family and friends and they were seeing it, but I was lying to him as well, because that was the only way I could get through the day, that would keep the peace." In a heartbreaking moment, Karen says she suffered hair loss caused by autoimmune disease alopecia, and believes it was her nervous system responding to the stress she was under. She also revealed on the day of her wedding her brother confronted her over the relationship, and begged her to leave Jordan. Karen had been married twice before, previously to Matthew Hauer for nine years but they went their separate ways in 2009. She was wed to former Strictly pro Kevin Clifton but they divorced in 2018. Karen and Jordan said their vows at Chewton Glen in Hampshire in 2022 and sold their wedding snaps to glossy magazine Hello!, calling the big day a "fairytale" at the time. But in her emotional interview with Celebs Go Dating star Paul, the dancer reevealed: "Everyone was trying to stop this from happening and I wish they would have just taken me, grabbed me and put me in a car and I would have kicked and screamed, but I wouldn't have gone through more hell." She added of Jordan: "He didn't hurt me physcally so you couldn't see it. It was there, digging, digging, diggingg ... "Every dig every text, every call, why did I let someone do that to me?" Karen revealed her friends staged an intervention to encourage her to be brave and end the relationship. Asked her the most challenging moment throughout the ordeal, she said: "There was a weekend I had to work but Pink was in concert and my two best friends, we got tickets and I was able to get away as an excuse as well that I was working down in London so I came down. "I cried for the first 35 minutes of the show. The freedom of being out there with my friends and them holding me up. And going, 'you have to do this'. "And then obviously the phone call from him (Jordan) 'why did you take your luggage?' It's almost that he knew what was coming. "I remember that moment, 'I have to, I have to do it because if not something is going to happen to me'." She says things turned nasty after the split. Karen added: "He started losing control of me and it was game on from him. "He pulled every shot, every string, did everything he needed to do to try and get my attention and try to get me away from what I was doing to go and see him." Karen says she reached out to his family and they were supportive, and says they told her more about his issues. She leaned on her mum for support, flying her over from New York, saying her mum was "a pitbull". She added Jordan begged for her back, saying he "would change". He eventually left her home, but Karen says he made the divorce "difficult". The star, who has appeared on Strictly for 14 years, is now in a new healthy relationship with rugby player Simon Davidson. She told Paul: "I'm in a new relationship and it's my first proper relationship at 43 years old. He has a job. Tick. He takes care of himself. Tick. "We have conversations about what we want, our values. I'm still a little bit messy, and the thing with me, what I'm navigating right now is learning when to accept when someone's telling me this is the way you should do it and now this is how you do it. "So, making sure that I understand where you're coming from without going, oh, why are you telling me what to do? "Instead of oh, you're trying to help me. That's what I'm learning in this relationship." 8 8 8 8
Wales Online
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Strictly's Karen Hauer addresses show future after swipe at co-stars over complaints
Strictly's Karen Hauer addresses show future after swipe at co-stars over complaints Strictly Come Dancing's longest-serving female professional dancer Karen Hauer shared what she doesn't like about some of her co-stars, as she prepares for her fourteenth series Strictly's Karen Hauer is keen for a role on the judging panel Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer says she is keen to get a job on the judging panel, following 13 years on the show. The 43-year-old is the BBC programme's longest-serving professional dancer of the current line-up, having joined in 2012. While she will be back on the dance floor for her fourteenth series this year, Karen admits she's been eyeing up other roles. In particular, she is keen to give critique to her co-stars alongside current judges; Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse, Shirley Ballas and Craig Revel Horwood. Quizzed on her future path, she shared: "I'd love to do a little bit of everything, you know, acting, hopefully, you never know, judging on Strictly. "You know, judging anywhere else in any other country in another language, I speak Spanish if anyone wants to take me," she added, laughing. Article continues below "Who knows? Writing a book, doing stuff, and also being with the community, being with people, helping children dance and helping adults dance and discover themselves from the inside." Strictly's Karen Hauer with her 2024 partner Paul Merson Quizzed further on a potential job on the judging panel by Paul C Brunson, she added: "Someone has to leave first, that's not happening," before joking: "Just put an extra chair for me." Discussing the competitive nature on the show, Karen said she tries her hardest to get the best out of her celebrity dance partners, whether they can dance or not. Just some of her dance partners have included; comedian Chris Ramsey, chef Simon Rimmer, Heart Radio's Mark Wright, and more recently, former footballer Paul Merson. Karen is yet to win the main competition, though has won a Children in Need special of Strictly with athlete Lutalo Muhammad. On whether anyone plays dirty behind-the-scenes, the professional dancer said this wasn't the case, though took issue with those who "complain a lot". Strictly's Karen Hauer took a swipe at co-stars who 'complain a lot' She shared on Paul's We Need To Talk podcast: "I'm like, ugh, stop complaining, you know, it is what it is, it's a show, it's a show! "You don't talk back to the judges, they're doing their job. Listen, don't get me wrong, there's times where I'm like, what did you just say back to me? "Like, keep it in Karen, don't let that New Yorker out, smile just smile, it's a show, it's entertainment, don't take anything personally because that's when it starts hurting." For the upcoming 2025 series, Karen returns to the dance floor alongside; reigning champion Dianne Buswell, Nadiya Bychkova, Amy Dowden, Katya Jones, Neil Jones, Nikita Kuzmin, Gorka Marquez, Luba Mushtuk, Jowita Przystal, Johannes Radebe, Aljaž Škorjanec, Kai Widdrington, Nancy Xu, Carlos Gu, Lauren Oakley, Michelle Tsiakkas and Vito Coppola. Article continues below Earlier this year, the BBC announced that two brand new professional dancers will also be revealed closer to the return of the show, as will the new line-up of celebrities hoping to win the Glitterball trophy.
