Strictly Come Dancing bombshell Kristina Rihanoff, 39, may be red-hot on the dance floor — but she’s ‘cold as ice’ in private, ex reveals
KRISTINA RIHANOFF may be red-hot on the dance floor but in private was cold as ice, her ex-lover has revealed.
Latin former champ Corky Ballas, 56, dated the former Strictly bombshell, 39, for five years following the collapse of his fiery 23-year marriage to the BBC dance show’s new head judge Shirley Ballas.
And on Day Two of his exclusive interview with The Sun, Texan Corky reveals his early passion with Russian siren Kristina — when he was her dance coach then lover in the US — later died as she would freeze him out after rows.
Their last tango came as she moved to London to join Strictly.
Corky yesterday told The Sun on Sunday how the music also died with Liverpudlian Shirley, now 57, after a string of rows.
And today he admits: “Both relationships were so volatile, but Shirley was all fire and Kristina was a pure ice queen.
“When we got into an argument over something, she would get quiet.
“I like to say my piece, but she would go cold on me, it was so annoying.
“And I realised over time that she and Shirley were pretty similar — neither would back down.
“I went for the same type of woman twice and I began to see the same patterns happening all over again.
“It was the same rows, same isolation.
“I had gotten older, too, so I didn’t have so much energy as I did with Shirley for arguments.”
I never found the age gap between us a problem
Corky Ballas
Corky was 44 and Kristina just 28 when he began coaching the young ballroom beauty while she was partnered with world champion Michael Wetnik.
The chemistry was instant. He says: “There was an attraction there from the start. Kristina loved dancing sexily and I encouraged her. It wasn’t long before we got together.
“I never found the age gap a problem, it just wasn’t an issue.
"But the dancing really confuses everything. My relationship with Kristina started with the dance and the passion for it, just as my relationship with Shirley had done more than 20 years earlier.
“You fall in love with an art form and you think, ‘Am I in love with this person?’ Just like with Shirley, I think I confused my love for dancing and my love for Kristina.”
News of Corky’s budding romance with Kristina spread like wildfire through the tight-knit dance world, as at the time he was still married to his estranged wife, who was living in England.
But he insists Kristina and Shirley were never love rivals, because his marriage was long since over — although they never divorced until 2007.
Despite the traits shared by the two women, he and Kristina went on to date in the States for five years.
Yet he insists he would “never” have married Kristina, saying: “She was not the one for me.”
Their relationship shuddered to a halt in 2008 after Kristina was offered her role on Strictly, where she was later to enjoy a run of eight years as a pro dancer.
Corky says: “I didn’t want to hold Kristina back but when she took that job and moved back to London I thought, ‘This is ridiculous, where is this going?’
“Long distance is really tough. What chance did we have living thousands of miles apart? In my mind the relationship was completely over.”
But while they stayed friends for months, it was reported that Kristina lashed out in 2009, claiming Corky had done the dirty on her with a budding actress. She denies saying this.
And while Kristina admits their relationship was “doomed” by her transatlantic move, she added: “Being cheated on would be hurtful. Most women know that.”
But Corky hit back at the disputed claim: “I absolutely never cheated on Kristina. That is ridiculous. I don’t remember when I slept with that girl. But we weren’t together at the time.”
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Kristina went on to become one of Strictly’s best known acts but it was often her love life, rather than her footwork, that took centre stage.
In 2009 Strictly fans were shocked when it emerged she had a secret fling with fellow pro dancer Vincent Simone — whose girlfriend was pregnant at the time.
Dancing is intimate – you are touching, it’s physical
Corky Ballas
Later that year she began dating her Strictly partner, Welsh boxing champ Joe Calzaghe, after he callously dumped his girlfriend just one week into the show.
And scandal hit again after she was paired with married England rugby hero Ben Cohen in 2013. Shortly after finishing the show, Ben announced he was splitting from childhood sweetheart Abby Blayney, who is also the mother of his twin daughters.
In 2015, Kristina and Ben, who now have a daughter, Milena, revealed they were dating.
Corky adds: “I haven’t watched Kristina dancing since we split, but I imagine her dancing is the same as when I knew her. She was good.
“I couldn’t compare her dancing to Shirley’s, because competing with someone under pressure is very different to coaching them in a dance studio.
“It would be like comparing apples and oranges.”
Corky said he is not surprised Strictly’s notorious romantic curse has claimed so many victims.
He says: “I think what happens with people who dance together is that there is a kind of non-verbal body language happening.
“When you meet someone you get to feel whether there is chemistry or not.
“But when you dance with a partner you are put in a situation where you are eye to eye, testing that chemistry out on the dance floor.
“It’s a very intimate situation to be in — you are touching each other and it’s physical.
“And if there is connection and chemistry you can feel it.”
Judge back with her dad
SHIRLEY BALLAS has finally ended a bitter family feud with her dad Andrew.
The Strictly head judge told fans “forgiveness in life is key” as she shared this snap of herself beaming with parents Audrey and Andrew on Saturday night.
The Strictly head judge previously told The Sun she had felt distant from her father after her parents split when she was just two.
Shirley, 57, from Liverpool said: “Growing up, we weren’t close. Over the past few years I’ve taken him for lunch. I saw him the other day. He still lives five minutes from my mum. I adore him but I was not a daddy’s girl.”
A source close to the former dance champ told The Sun: “Shirley and Andrew have spent some time together recently but the photo is Shirley’s public acknowledgement that they have now buried the hatchet.”