Karen Clifton reveals new ‘peace and enlightenment’ tattoo after split from husband Kevin
Karen said that the inking reminds her of her 'struggles' - and the 'peace' that follows
KAREN Clifton has revealed the meaning behind her new tattoo - sharing that it represents "peace and enlightenment" following her split from husband Kevin.
The Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer took to her Instagram page to open up about the meaningful inking.
Sharing a selection of photos of the circular symbol on her forearm - including one of herself pulling a face while getting the tattoo -, Karen, 36, admitted that she uses the image as a "daily reminder" of her "struggles".
She captioned the trio of snaps: ";Unalome: The unalome symbol represents the path to enlightenment in the Buddhist culture.
"The spirals are meant to symbolize the twists & turns in life, & the straight lines are meant to represent the moment one reaches enlightenment, peace or inner harmony.
"And this, courtesy of @courtneylloydtattoos is my daily reminder of those struggles and the peace that often follows them."
Karen married fellow Strictly pro Kevin in July 2015, but the pair announced their split in March of this year.
The brunette beauty recently admitted that she has found the amicable divorce "difficult", telling in September: "I've taken a big hit. I had to realise that 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.
"It was an intense time that prompted anxiety. I found the split very hard to deal with and I panicked.";
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"We weren't perfect but we were a normal couple who began to have rocky moments and we didn't know how to handle it.
"Strictly was the glue that was keeping us together but it was also the workload that was leaving us with no time to communicate."
Despite the break-up, Karen and Kevin remain on good terms and Karen was even spotted embracing the dancer when he and his celebrity partner Stacey Dooley won the BBC One dance competition earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Karen has moved on with new boyfriend David Webb - who she took home to her native New York over the Christmas holidays.
Proving that her new romance is going from strength to strength, opera singer David met Karen's mum and other family members.
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