'I felt suicidal': Kristina Rihanoff reveals she had 'dark thoughts' after being abused online over her Strictly romances
Kristina Rihanoff has revealed that she contemplated suicide after being the recipient of online abuse.
The Strictly Come Dancing star confessed her shocking truth in a new interview in The Sun, adding that the torrent of nastiness a reaction to her dating her co-stars.
The Russian dancer dated boxer Joe Calzaghe after she partnered him on the show, splitting in 2013 after four years, while she previously dated Strictly professional Vincent Simone.
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Dark thoughts: Kristina Rihanoff has revealed that online abuse over her Strictly romances left her feeling 'suicidal'
She has already hit out at critics after having to insist that nothing had gone on between herself and Ben Cohen - her dance partner in the 2013 series of the BBC show - after being blamed for the rugby star's marriage split.
The 38-year-old dancer told the newspaper's Ben Griffiths and Graeme Culliford: 'I felt suicidal at that point in my life. I was having such dark thoughts - and I'm not a person who gives up easily.
'I know I'm strong but the abuse ... it just destroyed me emotionally. I couldn't find a single positive thing to tell myself,' she added.
'I felt suicidal at that point in my life': The Strictly professional couldn't think of anything positive after a string of failed romances and the abuse from her critics that followed
The star also revealed that she took the decision in 2013 to carry on with the hit BBC One series in the knowledge that her relationship with Calzaghe would 'fall to pieces'.
'I also had to be ready to quit dancing, something that had been part of my life since I was six years old. And I didn't feel ready to sacrifice my work,' she went on, adding that she 'knew this would potentially be the final nail in the coffin for my relationship with Joe.'
And it seems it was, as they ended their relationship with the Welsh former world champion boxer in 2013, ahead of the series of the show during which she met her current partner Ben.
Past love: Kristina famously dated her 2009 Strictly partner Joe Calzaghe, but it ended in 2013
Exes: In 2008, Kristina dated fellow Strictly professional Vincent Simone... who also dated Flavia Cacace (pictured, left)
In June Kristina, who has been nicknamed the Siberian Siren, told Loose Women: 'I didn't go in to the show to have my private life splashed all over the papers.'
She added: 'I just don't understand why women are played against each other so badly.'
More recently, Kristina has been trying to keep her romance with ex-rugby star Ben, 36, as low key as possible, following the drama surrounding the end of his marriage, which came at the same time they were first rumoured to be an item.
Kristina and Ben struck up a friendship which has since developed into something more romantic after being partnered together on the 2013 series of the BBC show.
The Russian-born star broke her silence on their romance recently, describing it as a 'work in progress'.
She told The Sun on Sunday: 'We are in a committed relationship, and of course, that involves love.
Romance: Kristina has now struck up a relationship with her 2013 Strictly partner Ben Cohen, but she maintains she had nothing to do with his spit from wife Abby last year
Low-key: The couple have kept their romance as under the radar as possible, but they were seen together during a night out for the pretty blonde's birthday earlier this week
'We're constantly together - either at my place or his. We're still very new so there's much more left to grow hopefully. It's a work in progress.'
To this day, she maintains she had no involvement in Ben's marriage breakdown with wife Abby, adding: 'Ben's said it many times and I'll say it again - I wasn't involved in the breaking up of his marriage.'
Meanwhile Abby, the sports stars estranged wife, recently described the split and resultant divorce as 'the most traumatic thing to ever happen to me'.
Speaking last month, she said: 'My husband, who I was with for 23 years, unconditionally loved and was completely loyal to in every respect, has left me for a f***ing Russian dancer.
'He's done the dirty on me. I'm just trying to recover from what has been the most horrific time of my life.'
Meanwhile, Kristina is currently partnering with Irish singer Daniel O'Donnell in this year's series of Strictly, and their waltz routine split the judges in Friday's opening show.
Dancing star! On Friday's opening show of the new series of Strictly Come Dancing, Kristina divided the judges with her first dance with new partner Daniel O'Donnell
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