After months of rumours, Karen and Kevin Clifton have confirmed that they have decided to end their marriage. The pair have been professional and private partners for years, and have insisted they will continue to dance with each other, as they prepare to go on tour. But that’s always easier said than done, and Gillian McCallum, a matchmaker and dating expert, believes these two are fooling themselves if they feel this is a long-term solution. ‘It can seem like a good idea [to continue working together] but what’s tricky is usually, when a couple breaks up, one party wants it more than the other, and so one of the pairing may be thinking, “if we carry on dancing then maybe I can resurrect the relationship”,’ says Gillian, who is CEO of matchmaking service, Drawing Down The Moon. ‘They call it the curse of strictly, and why is that? It’s because dancing is so intimate, so physically close, and you spend so much time together, it’s sexy and erotic.’
‘Privately we are not together anymore but professionally we are stronger than ever before,’ said Kevin. ‘Dance is how we came together and is what glues us together. We’re still the best of friends – we still have a lot of love and respect for each other. What we’ve found is that since we’ve been honest with each other it’s unlocked our creativity.’ Karen added: ‘We have such strong chemistry and it’s about entertaining and inspiring. At the end of the day it’s about giving back to fans. We’re feeling very positive.’ But, says Gillian, ‘the part that puts the spanner in the works is when one of them finds someone else’.
‘While they are still single, it’s great – they’ll spend time together and the one who wants to be with the other gets to see them, dance with them and share experiences with them. It’s kind of like they’re still a couple,’ she suggests. ‘But the moment someone else comes in the equation, that is when this relationship will find themselves in trouble. It’s fine be to “adults” about it when you’re single but they’ll be completely undone when someone else comes on the scene’…
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