The professional dancer reflected on her healthy relationship after previous marriages didn't work out
Strictly Come Dancing's Karen Hauer opened up about her new relationship after her three previous marriages ended in divorce.
Professional dancer Karen joined the BBC ballroom in 2012 where she was first partnered with Westlife singer Nicky Byrnes. They were eliminated in week 10. Outside of Strictly, the dancer had a high-profile relationship with other professional dancer Kevin Clifton. They married in 2015 and remained so until 2018.
Karen sat down on this week’s episode of We Need To Talk, the podcast by Paul C Brunson from Married at First Sight and Celebs Go Dating.
Her relationship with Strictly co-star Kevin broke down, and the pair soon agreed upon a divorce. Speaking to Paul, she shared: "This one hurt because we belonged together. Do you know what I mean? It was like you wouldn't say each other's names without following the other person's name.
It was one of these that we're like, 'What? What?' We built stuff together. I felt that he distanced himself from me, but I was probably doing the same because I felt if he didn't want me then, okay, I'll retreat. I'll give you your space. It was one of those that we're both not talking about it.
"So, I'm like, do you want a divorce? Do you want to split up? I don't know what I want to do. What do you want to do? Do you know what you want? I don't know what I want. Okay. So, do we are broken up or? So, it took a while actually. It took about a year behind the scenes, in front of the scenes, everything was normal."
The dancer continued: "We fell apart and I obviously didn't know what was happening in his mind whether he wanted to be with me or not. I knew that I would have worked on it. I would have stayed but at the same time I couldn't be with someone who wasn't sure of whether they wanted to be with me or not. I couldn't just wait."
Reflecting on her second divorce at the time, Karen admitted: "I felt shame. I felt embarrassed. that I couldn't keep anyone around me."
After her split from Kevin, Karen was married a third time before getting another divorce.
Currently, the 43-year-old has been open about her latest relationship with Simon Davidson, she told Paul: "I'm in a new relationship and it's my first proper relationship at 43 years old. He has a job. Tick. He takes care of himself. Tick. We have conversations about what we want, our values.
"I'm still a little bit messy, and the thing with me, what I'm navigating right now is learning when to accept when someone's telling me this is the way you should do it and now this is how you do it.
"So, making sure that I understand where you're coming from without going, oh, why are you telling me what to do? instead of oh, you're trying to help me. That's what I'm learning in this relationship."
