Rachel Riley shares true feelings about Strictly after meeting husband on show

Television personality Rachel Riley has confessed that her feelings towards Strictly Come Dancing are less than fond, despite the show being where she met her husband, professional dancer Pasha Kovalev, 45.

The happy couple now have two daughters together.

Speaking to Russell Howard on his podcast Russell Howard's Five Brilliant Things, Rachel, 39, acknowledged the positive outcomes from her participation in the show but also revealed it had a negative impact on her mental health.

Rachel shared: "I got PTSD from it so I don't really have warm feelings. I have warm feelings towards Pasha and my kids, but not necessarily the show. That's a whole other therapy session."

Her revelation follows a string of controversies surrounding the esteemed BBC dance competition, including claims made by former contestant Amanda Abbington, which prompted an investigation by the broadcaster.

Amanda had levelled accusations that her professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice was "unnecessary, abusive, cruel and mean" during their practice sessions, reports the Liverpool Echo.

After a thorough nine-month inquiry, the BBC substantiated some of Amanda's complaints, absolved her dance partner of the graver accusations, and extended an apology to the actress.

Reflecting on her stint in Strictly, Rachel, who is currently braving the challenge of swimming with formidable sea creatures for ITV's Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters, conceded that she sought therapy to deal with performance-related anxiety issues.

She explained: "I had it the first time when I was on Strictly, and I had rapid behavioural therapy, CBT because I got stage fright and within two sessions, I'd never done it in my life.

"He, Michael, spent like an hour getting to know me and the way my brain worked and then responded to that. It worked, I had a goal of getting an eight, and if I got an eight, I had to be proud of it.

"And then my last show, I got two eights and then I got voted off. I did better than I was hoping for in my best scenario."

Rachel found love with her now-husband Pasha during her stint on Strictly back in 2013. Their relationship blossomed after their participation in the series, leading to their marriage in Las Vegas in 2019.

Earlier this year, just past their sixth anniversary, Rachel disclosed that although they tied the knot in Las Vegas, Pasha's proposal came at a rather unexpected location.

On Sunday Brunch, she shared: "We were going to Vegas anyway to see Robbie Williams and the week before we were standing in Market Street in Manchester right between Primark and the bins and Pasha said 'shall we get married while we're there?'"