Dan Walker has spoken out about the rumours that he and his wife had been hit with the so-called Strictly Curse following his appearance on the BBC dance show.
The BBC Breakfast host, who has been happily married to his wife Sarah for 20 years, said gossip that he had become more than just good friends with his professional dance partner Nadiya Bychcova were “disappointing”.
Speaking to The Sun, Dan said: “The rumours about us were . . . disappointing. I know these happen every year on Strictly, and there have been instances in the past of the so-called curse, and it’s just telly. But it’s just not nice.”
However, Dan admitted that he and Sarah did discuss the curse phenomenon once he knew his pro partner would be the happily engaged Nadiya, who he described as “not a walrus”.
“When Sarah saw who I was partnered with, we had to have a laugh about it,” he said.
“Obviously, you discuss those things, the curse, but it wasn’t a lengthy discussion. I think we tried to make it light-hearted, to have fun doing it.
“But the first Monday I trained with Nadiya, she came around and had dinner with my family. We’ve been out four or five times to restaurants.
“My family is really, really important to me and always have been and always will be. I didn’t want them to feel excluded.
“So no, being paired with Nadiya was never a problem. Friendship is a blessing. And I think from the moment we first met, Nadiya and I knew we were going to get on.
“But I’ve always introduced her on any social media video I’ve ever done as my ‘professional partner’ because that’s her job. She is very professional.”
Dan missed out on a place in this weekend’s semi-final following last Sunday’s night’s dance-off against AJ Odudu.
After his exit from this year’s competition, Dan tweeted his praise for Nadiya, calling her a “superstar”, but later admitted there was “no way I could compete” with the remaining four contestants.
Four couples – TV presenter AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington, EastEnders actor Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice, Bake Off winner John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, and CBBC host Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu – remain in the competition for the semi-finals.
The Strictly Come Dancing semi-final airs on 11 December at 7.05pm, with the results show on 12 December 12 at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
The BBC Breakfast host, who has been happily married to his wife Sarah for 20 years, said gossip that he had become more than just good friends with his professional dance partner Nadiya Bychcova were “disappointing”.
Speaking to The Sun, Dan said: “The rumours about us were . . . disappointing. I know these happen every year on Strictly, and there have been instances in the past of the so-called curse, and it’s just telly. But it’s just not nice.”
However, Dan admitted that he and Sarah did discuss the curse phenomenon once he knew his pro partner would be the happily engaged Nadiya, who he described as “not a walrus”.
“When Sarah saw who I was partnered with, we had to have a laugh about it,” he said.
“Obviously, you discuss those things, the curse, but it wasn’t a lengthy discussion. I think we tried to make it light-hearted, to have fun doing it.
“But the first Monday I trained with Nadiya, she came around and had dinner with my family. We’ve been out four or five times to restaurants.
“My family is really, really important to me and always have been and always will be. I didn’t want them to feel excluded.
“So no, being paired with Nadiya was never a problem. Friendship is a blessing. And I think from the moment we first met, Nadiya and I knew we were going to get on.
“But I’ve always introduced her on any social media video I’ve ever done as my ‘professional partner’ because that’s her job. She is very professional.”
Dan missed out on a place in this weekend’s semi-final following last Sunday’s night’s dance-off against AJ Odudu.
After his exit from this year’s competition, Dan tweeted his praise for Nadiya, calling her a “superstar”, but later admitted there was “no way I could compete” with the remaining four contestants.
Four couples – TV presenter AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington, EastEnders actor Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice, Bake Off winner John Whaite and Johannes Radebe, and CBBC host Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu – remain in the competition for the semi-finals.
The Strictly Come Dancing semi-final airs on 11 December at 7.05pm, with the results show on 12 December 12 at 7.20pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
