Rachel Riley, numbers whiz for Channel 4 shows Countdown and it’s comedy spin-off 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, was partnered with Russian professional Latin dancer Pasha Kovalev in the eleventh series of Strictly Come Dancing back in 2013.
The pair danced their way up to week six of the competition when they were voted out, but it added fuel to the fire and sparks flew after their time on the show. Soon after Strictly ended in December, Rachel, 35, and Pasha began dating.
The happy couple announced Rachel’s pregnancy in May 2019 and the couple welcomed a baby girl in December that year, six months after they married in Las Vegas.
The Countdown presenter gave birth to the happy couple’s second child on November 5 this year and she told Lorraine Kelly: “I’m in that new mum daze, she’s just gorgeous. I’ve got two little girls now.
(Image: Getty Images)
“Noa’s two weeks old, so she was born on bonfire night, 15 days after she was supposed to arrive, to the sound of fireworks as I was contracting at home.”
But before Rachel was tied to 41 year old dancer Pasha Kovalev she was actually previously married. Riley met her ex-husband, millionaire Jamie Gilbert, whilst they were studying at Oxford University and hit it off until their relationship broke down in 2009.
(Image: Ian Gavan/Getty Images)
They got back together and married in August 2012, but their marriage lasted a brief 16 months before Rachel agreed to take part in Strictly Come Dancing.
The pair were settled down in Essex before she took part in the dancing competition which led to their marriage’s demise.
(Image: INSTAGRAM)
The Strictly curse had struck once again and the couple called off their relationship with Rachel confirming her partnership with Pasha in 2014, but Rachel always denied Pasha’s involvement with her marriage.
She spoke to The Sun: “I’m still friends with my ex-husband. He’s great, he’s a brilliant guy,” and went on to defend her relationship with the Strictly dancer: “We were together since I was 19. It wasn’t right.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
