BLAME GAME
Sobbing Strictly star Kristina Rihanoff blames fiancé Ben Cohen as she’s hauled to court for driving offences
See details on the couple's rocky relationship below
SOBBING Strictly star Kristina Rihanoff has blamed her fiancé Ben Cohen after being hauled to court for driving offences.
The couple have admitted they are "fighting not to lose everything".
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Rugby World Cup winner Mr Cohen, 45, appeared alongside Rihanoff, 46, after she was caught driving her £30,000 Audi Q3 without insurance.
During a hearing at Northampton Crown Court Mr Cohen said he had ignored a text message from his insurance company.
Mr Cohen confirmed that he had been solely responsible for sourcing insurance for the couple's cars.
The court was told that Mr Cohen had been searching for cheaper insurance online at the end of February after being quoted £7,500 by Aviva.
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BEN COHEN AND KRISTINA RHIANOFF'S ROCKY RELATIONSHIP
The couple had met when they were partnered for the 11th series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, and fell in love.
This was despite Cohen being married at the time to Abby Bray.
Cohen and Rihanoff share daughter Mila, and had planned to tie the knot in Tuscany or Oxfordshire.
He told Hello! Magazine in 2023: "Over the last nine years we've been through the wringer.
"To support each other through difficult times in business is the ultimate test in a relationship.
"I've watched her flourish, from her becoming a mum to growing as a businesswoman, and it has strengthened our bond."
The pair previously revealed they got engaged during a sun-soaked Maldives getaway in 2022.
He said he had taken out a policy out with Dial Direct on February 22, paying monthly by direct debit.
In March he was abroad when he received a text message telling him Dial Direct were going to cancel his insurance unless he sent them his no claims details.
He said he didn't have a no claims bonus so he did not send any details to the company and did not respond so the policy was cancelled on March 7.
On April 14 Rihanoff was stopped driving uninsured in Northampton town centre.
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The court heard that when police officers phoned him he immediately tried to take out another policy with the same company.
When asked if he knew, on April 14, that the policy had been cancelled, he replied: "I 100 per cent did not know that policy would be cancelled because the no claims information they'd been asking for wasn't relevant to me."
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Referring to the insurance, Mr Cohen added: "I didn't know until I got that call from Kristina then I was (saying) 'what are you on about?'"
He also said he had not told Rihanoff about the cancellation of the insurance.
He also admitted he had not asked Rihanoff about the dates of her previous speeding offences before taking out the policy.
Rihanoff, who appeared under the name Kristina Pchenitchnykh, was caught driving her 72-plate Audi, in Horsemarket, Northampton, on April 4.
The Russian dancer was slapped with six points on her licence but faced a ban for totting up 12 penalty points.
On Friday (September 6) she went to court to appeal the conviction for driving without insurance with Mr Cohen appearing as her witness.
The pair fell for each other after they were partnered up on the 11th series of Strictly in 2013.
The court heard they had set up several businesses, including a Yoga studio, which had suffered as a result of Covid.
Mr Cohen said: "I get up every day and I fight not to lose everything - to lose my cars and my house and my relationship. I'm so overdrawn."
When questioned about the strains on his and Rihanoff's relationship, he said: "We're still living together.
"We're in it financially.
"We're in business together so the problem is that we opened the business before Covid and we got the worst severities of it and in all honestly this is just another problem for me to deal with.
"I've got credit cards that are overdrawn. I'm overdrawn in both accounts. We have got a business debt because of Covid.
"It's just another problem."
Rihanoff sobbed throughout the hearing and had to leave the court room holding her hands over her mouth because she felt sick.
She spent the rest of the hearing wrapped in a white blanket holding a tissue to her eyes.
She told the court she needed to drive to judge ballroom competitions across the country which earned her £2,000-a-month.
She also said she needed to drive to take her children to school.
Recorder Louise Cox rejected her appeal, but told Rihanoff she had "every sympathy" with her.
She said: "We find you had an honest belief you were insured but don't accept that belief was reasonable grounds to account for your lack of insurance."
She said that Rihanoff should have made sure she was insured before driving.
She was spared a driving ban due to "exceptional hardship" despite totting up 12 penalty points.
The court heard Rihanoff needs a car to take her two daughters to school.
The court heard her eight-year-old step-daughter suffers from a heart condition and she takes her to Great Ormond Street Hospital for treatment.
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Rihanoff lives 25 minutes from her dance studio and travels around the UK at weekend judging dance competitions.
Rihanoff, of Ecton Lane, Sywell, Northants., was ordered to pay £357 in appeal costs.
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ABBIE BRAY HAS BEEN VOCAL ON BETRAYAL
Ben Cohen's ex-wife Abbie Bray has been vocal about her feelings of betrayal after he left her for Kristina Rihanoff.
Having split from him in 2014, she told The Sun On Sunday a year later: "My husband, who I was with for 23 years, unconditionally loved and was completely loyal to in every respect, has left me for a f**king Russian dancer.
"The last two years have been the most traumatic thing to ever happen to me. He's done the dirty on me. I want people to know.
"I don't want to cause stress or further damage by stirring things up. But I'm just trying to recover from what has been the most horrific time of my life."
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