Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen have split after 12 years together, it was claimed on Thursday. 

The Strictly Come Dancing professional, 47, and the ex-England rugby star’s relationship was the product of the show’s infamous curse when Ben, 46, left his then wife Abby for the Russian star in 2013. 

The couple, who share an eight-year-old daughter Melina, became engaged in October 2022 during a holiday to the Maldives. 

But in September 2024, Ben admitted that they were ‘fighting to save their relationship’ as they faced financial difficulties. 

This week, friends confirmed to The Sun that the pair have parted ways after money troubles tore the relationship apart.

A friend told the publication: ‘Ben left his wife Abby for Kristina, only to now split with her.

‘It’s like the curse in reverse. This will be like karma for Abby, she was so upset when Ben left her. It’s like he has got his comeuppance.’

Here MailOnline takes a look at all the signs Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen were going to split…

Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen have reportedly split after 12 years together, it was revealed on Thursday

Instagram posts

The pair appeared to put on a united front last November when Kristina shared a sweet snap with Ben’s two eldest daughters from his marriage to Abby at a black tie event. 

Meanwhile, she hasn’t shared a snap with Ben on her grid since last August when the couple posed with their daughter at a dance compeтιтion. 

Ben last shared a pH๏τo with Kristina in November 2023, when they attended a rugby dinner together. 

Kristina’s legal woes 

Ben revealed that his relationship with Kristina had hit the rocks as he appeared in court on her behalf after she faced a driving ban for driving her £30,000 Audi Q3 without insurance in September 2024. 

Kristina bundled up in an oversized grey cardigan as she was picked up by Ben, having faced a driving ban for totting up 12 points on her licence.

She went to court to appeal her sentence for driving without insurance, with Ben appearing as her witness to reveal he had been searching for cheaper insurance after being quoted £7,500 by Aviva.

Ben last shared a pH๏τo with Kristina in November 2023, when they attended a rugby dinner together (pictured)

During the appeal hearing, Ben admitted to overlooking a text message from his insurance company prior to the incident, as her partner sobbed throughout the hearing. 

Ben said: ‘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 Rihanoff’s relationship, he said: ‘We’re still living together. We’re in it financially.

‘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.’

Kristina sobbed throughout the hearing and had to leave the court room holding her hands over her mouth because she felt sick.

Cohen confirmed that he had been solely responsible for sourcing insurance for the couple’s cars.

The judge said that Rihanoff should have made sure she was insured before driving.

Back in September 2024, Ben admitted that they were ‘fighting to save their relationship’ as they faced financial difficulties

When questioned about the strains on his and Rihanoff’s relationship, he said: ‘We’re still living together. We’re in it financially (pictured in 2013 on Strictly)

Money troubles

Cracks had started to show last year after the couple placed their £1.75 million home on the market amid money struggles, which Ben said in court in October had put pressure on their relationship. 

The five-bedroom home in Northamptonshire, which was bought in 2016, was put up for sale in October for £1,750,000.

The sale of the house appeared to be a bid to salvage some of their financial difficulties after the pair set up several businesses together. 

The pair faced more potential legal battles after failing to submit accounts for a yoga studio which plunged almost £500,000 into the red.

Their money troubles started to rear its head following the Covid pandemic in 2020, which impacted their fitness and wellbeing studio called Soo Yoga in Northampton.

Companies House records show that the Soo Yoga Group Ltd was £488,470 in the red in its last submitted set of accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022.

Soo Yoga Group was set up by Kristina and Cohen in June 2017, but the professional dancer stepped down as a director and transferred her 50 per cent shareholding to her finance in September 2022.

The studio’s website says it offers a range of ‘holistic’ classes including yoga, pilates, dance, cycling, spin, Hiit and meditation for a membership of £690 a year, or a pay-as-you-go rate of ten classes for £120.

Its debts include an outstanding £190,000 loan made to Soo Yoga Group by a company called Bespoke Ballroom Ltd which is 50 per cent owned by Russian-born Kristina who is listed as an American citizen.

The company was listed to be compulsorily struck off on December 27, 2022, but the action was suspended nine days later and discontinued on April 28, 2023.

Records also reveal that a food services company called Soo Greens Ltd which is 100 per cent owned by Soo Yoga Group Ltd was effectively £6,633 in the red, taking into account future liabilities, in its last accounts for the period ending on July 31, 2020.

The company’s accounts for the year ending in July 2021 have still not been filed and are now nearly 29 months overdue.

Another company called Soo Purple Mountain Ltd which is also owned by the Soo Yoga Group, was set up in December 2021 and dissolved by a voluntary strike off in February this year without ever filing accounts.

A fourth company called Soo Group Ltd which was half owned by Cohen and half owned by three other people was also incorporated and voluntarily struck off on the same dates.

A fifth company called Yoga Wellbeing which is 100 percent owned by Rihanoff was £5,041 in the red, taking into account future liabilities, at the end of July 2020. Its accounts are also nearly 29 months overdue, according to Companies House records.

In February 2024 Ben revealed the pair planned to ‘marry in secret’, and said his relationship with his fiancée Kristina has been ‘strengthened’ by ‘difficult times in business’ (pictured in July 2023)

Wedding plans delayed

In February 2024 Ben revealed the pair planned to ‘marry in secret’, and said his relationship with his fiancée Kristina has been ‘strengthened’ by ‘difficult times in business’ ahead of their wedding. 

He told HELLO! magazine: ‘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.’

They told the magazine that they plan to make the big day a family affair with their daughter and Ben’s twin daughters, both 15, who he shares with his first wife Abby Blayney Cohen – serving as bridesmaids. 

Kristina said: ‘She’s already told me what she’s going to wear. ‘I want this kind of dress, Mummy, with a long train like you will have,’ she tells me. She certainly knows her own mind.’

Talking about his ploy for a low-key wedding, during an appearance on Jeremy Vine Ben later changed his tune. 

However, talking about his ploy for a low-key wedding, during an appearance on Jeremy Vine Ben later changed his tune (pictured in April 2024)

The host asked: ‘Ben, I must ask you about love because you’re getting married soon, aren’t you. You’ve been engaged for a while to the Strictly legend, Kristina.’

‘Yeah, Kristina – no, we’re not, we’re not going to get married yet. Listening to you guys [in the studio], it’s so much going on in the world at the moment,’ the sportsperson answered promptly.

‘You know, having a business in today’s world is really tough. Not only do we have to deal with Brexit, we’ve gone into Covid and all the lockdowns and three wars and a recession.

So we’ll get our business sorted and concentrate on that and then once things perk up a little bit, we may think about doing it somewhere probably in secret,’ he added.