Showbiz

Strictly’s Kristina Rihanoff looks glamorous in a figure-hugging green gown as she judges dance compeтιтion after split from Ben Cohen

Strictly’s Kristina Rihanoff looks glamorous in a figure-hugging green gown as she judges dance compeтιтion after split from Ben Cohen

Kristina Rihanoff looked glamorous in a figure-hugging green gown as she judged a dance compeтιтion on Tuesday, following her split from Ben Cohen. 

The former Strictly Come Dancing star, 47, and the ex-rugby player, 46, became the latest stars to be hit by the infamous ‘Strictly curse’ after their 12-year romance ended in heartbreak this month.

MailOnline was told that the severe financial difficulties they had recently experienced are believed to have been behind their split.

However, Kristina seems to be keeping herself busy with work as she dressed to the nines to take on her duty as judge at The European Open.

She shared a slew of snaps to Instagram showing off her dazzling outfit, as the dancer stunned in a high-neck, wrap around maxi dress.

Kristina added inches to her height with a chunky pair of gold heels and wore her blonde tresses in curls.

Kristina Rihanoff looked glamorous in a figure-hugging green gown as she judged a dance compeтιтion on Tuesday, following her split from Ben Cohen

Kristina Rihanoff looked glamorous in a figure-hugging green gown as she judged a dance compeтιтion on Tuesday, following her split from Ben Cohen 

However, Kristina seems to be keeping herself busy with work as she dressed to the nines to take on her duty as judge at The European Open

However, Kristina seems to be keeping herself busy with work as she dressed to the nines to take on her duty as judge at The European Open

She added a very glamorous palette of makeup including a dark smoky eye and swipe of ɴuᴅᴇ lipstick.

The beauty seemed to be in high spirits as she smiled for a picture, as well as including pictures of herself sporting a face of concentration as she judged the dancing.

She wrote in her caption: ‘Big thank you to @the_european_open @wdo_world_dance_organisation, and @president_ninoromano for the invitation to adjudicate such an amazing championship!

‘It was truly a magical experience, and I would like to express my graтιтude, as well as extend my congratulations to the entire team.’

Kristina added: ‘Organising a 4-day event of this caliber is undoubtedly challenging, but it was an absolutely fantastic experience! I can’t wait to support it again next year and bring more of my @bespokeballroom students!’

Kristina’s appearance comes after it has been claimed the couple have been left with a crippling £1million debt.

According to The Sun, two of their companies, haven’t filed accounts in four years, with Companies House trying to force their closure.

The publication adds that creditors have now intervened and the striking off has been suspended.

Soo Yoga Group, which is owned by the couple, was £488,470 in the red in its last submitted set of accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022.

She shared a slew of snaps to Instagram showing off her dazzling outfit, as the dancer stunned in a high-neck, wrap around maxi dress

She shared a slew of snaps to Instagram showing off her dazzling outfit, as the dancer stunned in a high-neck, wrap around maxi dress

She gushed: 'It was truly a magical experience, and I would like to express my graтιтude, as well as extend my congratulations to the entire team'

She gushed: ‘It was truly a magical experience, and I would like to express my graтιтude, as well as extend my congratulations to the entire team’

The former Strictly Come Dancing star, 47, and the ex-rugby player, 46, became the latest stars to be hit by the infamous 'Strictly curse' after their 12-year romance ended in heartbreak this month (pictured April)

The former Strictly Come Dancing star, 47, and the ex-rugby player, 46, became the latest stars to be hit by the infamous ‘Strictly curse’ after their 12-year romance ended in heartbreak this month (pictured April)

Read More Kristina Rihanoff hinted at money woes in 2023 before split from Ben Cohen over financial troubles article image

It owes £450,000 to creditors and £190,000 to Kristina’s other firm, Bespoke Ballroom Ltd.

MailOnline has contacted Kristina and Ben’s representatives for comment.

A friend of the couple recently told MailOnline: ‘The past six months have been hell for them and it has torn the love they had apart. For the sake of their family, they have chosen to go forward as separate individuals.

‘Those close to them who know them as a couple had hoped they would be able to work things out but for now it’s over and it looks like there’s no going back.’

The couple were left with crippling debts after they ploughed every penny they had into a yoga studio which plunged into crisis during the Covid pandemic.

The extent of their struggles were laid bare in unusual circumstances – during a court appearance last September when Kristina was caught driving without insurance.

Giving evidence during the case, England World Cup winning star Ben admitted he had bungled the handling of their car insurance policy and told how he was ‘fighting to save his relationship and home’.

In a tortuously frank admission he told the court: ‘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 Kristina’s relationship, he said: ‘We’re still living together. We’re in it financially.

MailOnline was told that the severe financial difficulties they had recently experienced are believed to have been behind their split

MailOnline was told that the severe financial difficulties they had recently experienced are believed to have been behind their split 

Kristina's appearance comes after it has been claimed the couple have been left with a crippling £1million debt

Kristina’s appearance comes after it has been claimed the couple have been left with a crippling £1million debt 

‘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.’

MailOnline was previously given an insight into their business struggles during an interview with the couple in May 2021.

They started Soo Yoga Group together in June 2017 – four years after falling for each other when they partnered on the 11th series of Strictly.

But Companies House records showed that company was £488,470 in the red in its last submitted set of accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022.

The business was facing being struck off and Ben has since resigned as a director leaving Kristina as its sole director – while other companies linked to the couple were also in difficulties.

It was not long before the couple had put their £1.75million five-bedroom home in Sywell, Northamptonshire, where they had lived since 2016 on the market.

Ben resorted to selling topless pH๏τos of himself in a bid to raise some much needed cash.

They started Soo Yoga Group together in June 2017 - four years after falling for each other when they partnered on the 11th series of Strictly (seen on Strictly in 2013)

They started Soo Yoga Group together in June 2017 – four years after falling for each other when they partnered on the 11th series of Strictly (seen on Strictly in 2013)

Soo Yoga Group, which is owned by the couple, was £488,470 in the red in its last accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022

Soo Yoga Group, which is owned by the couple, was £488,470 in the red in its last submitted set of accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022

Ahead of the new year, he created a calendar with 1,000 personally signed editions selling at £32.95 a time in the hope of raking in £33,000.

Speaking to MailOnline in 2021, the couple revealed the irony of how they set off full of hope on a project to improve health and wellbeing only to be plunged into a crisis which left them facing losing everything and damaging their mental health.

Russian-born Kristina – who left Strictly in 2015 before giving birth to their daughter Mila the following year – had worked hard to retrain as a yoga instructor.

The studio offered dance, meditation and pilates classes while Ben taught high intensity training.

But they were forced to close the seven-studio yoga centre when the pandemic struck just nine months after opening.

Kristina told MailOnline: ‘The company is a new company we’d just set it up. We invested everything we’ve ever had.

‘It was awful. I put everything into it and you don’t even have a chance to develop the business.

‘We opened in August after the first lockdown and had a huge spike. It’s a family orientated centre. Then November lockdown, December it was awful because we didn’t know the end of it. It was forever and ever and ever. Fingers crossed we can go back to normality soon.’

She spoke of struggles with depression which has ‘skyrocketed through the lockdowns’ and admitted they struggled.

Russian-born Kristina - who left Strictly in 2015 before giving birth to their daughter Mila the following year - had worked hard to retrain as a yoga instructor

Russian-born Kristina – who left Strictly in 2015 before giving birth to their daughter Mila the following year – had worked hard to retrain as a yoga instructor

At that point they were able to temporarily run outdoor classes on tennis courts in Northampton but told of their plans to expand the business into a nationwide venture – hoping to emulate the success of David Lloyd’s sports club empire.

Ben said: ‘Yes it’s great being outside and doing stuff but it shouldn’t be at that point – we haven’t earned a penny.’

He told how it was ‘tough to run a business’ but said of his hopes: ‘Essentially we want to do what David Lloyd did. Everyone thought he was crazy. David has been helping us with this too. We want to grow this across the country.’

The couple appeared to be back on track after getting engaged on a sun-kissed beach in the Maldives in 2022 and told of their hopes of tying the knot in Tuscany or Oxfordshire.

Ben 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.’

But their ongoing struggles were revealed when Kristina, who worked on Strictly between 2008 and 2013, appeared at Northampton Crown Court to unsuccessfully appeal a sentence for driving without insurance.

Sobbing throughout the hearing, she told the court it would be financially devastating if she was disqualified.

She said she needed to drive to judge ballroom compeтιтions across the country, which earn her around £2,000 a month, and to take Mila to school.

MailOnline later revealed the couple’s yoga company had plunged almost £500,000 in debt.

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