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Rachel Riley admits Strictly helped her ‘break away’ from ex husband before dating dance partner Pasha Kovalev

The Countdown presenter, 33, met Pasha while taking part in the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing

RACHEL Riley has claimed that her time on Strictly Come Dancing helped her to "break way" from ex-husband Jamie Gilbert.

The 33-year-old met Jamie while studying at Oxford university and after a brief split in 2009, they married in 2012, just one year before Rachel's time on the BBC dance competition.

 Rachel Riley and ex-husband Jamie Gilbert split shortly after her Strictly stint
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Rachel Riley and ex-husband Jamie Gilbert split shortly after her Strictly stintCredit: Darren Fletcher - The Sun

Rachel told : "What Strictly did was give me distance - because I was away from home in Birmingham, Salford, Borehamwood - and it was the emotional distance that I needed to break away."

While appearing on Strictly Come Dancing, the Countdown host found love with pro partner Pasha Kovalev.

But Rachel insists that there's no bad blood between herself and ex-husband Jamie.

She explained: "I'm still friends with my ex-husband. He's great, he's a brilliant guy... We were together since I was 19 and it wasn't right."

 Rachel is learning the Russian dialect so she can communicate with Pasha's family
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Rachel is learning the Russian dialect so she can communicate with Pasha's familyCredit: Getty - Contributor

Earlier this year Rachel revealed that she is in the process of learning Russian so that she could speak to Pasha's family.

Rachel made headlines recently when a resurfaced clip from 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown saw her claim that co-host Susie Dent steals her underwear.

In the clip, Susie said: “We swap bras sometimes and I think you thought I had lost one of her bras.”

 Rachel continues to wow fact fans on Countdown
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Rachel continues to wow fact fans on CountdownCredit: Handout

Rachel replied: “We don’t swap bras, Susie just comes in and she’s never got a bra to wear.

"We do 15 shows and it’s always, ‘Can I just borrow your bra again'.

"It’s not just bras, it’s any kind of undergarments.

Rachel Riley reveals Countdown co-star Susie Dent steals her underwear


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