Countdown queen, Rachel Riley, might have met her husband, Pasha Kovalev, on Strictly Come Dancing, however she inisits there is not any means she’d return on the present
Rachel Riley reckons she’d moderately swim with killer sharks than return to Strictly Come Dancing. The Countdown queen, 39, met her husband, Pasha Kovalev, on the BBC dance present again in 2013, earlier than welcoming their daughters, Maven, 5, and Noa, three, into the world.
Nevertheless, Rachel, who has signed as much as ITV’s new actuality present, Shark! Celeb Infested Water, by which a group of plucky stars face their fears and swim with tiger sharks – and not using a cage – says there is not any means she’d strut her stuff on the dance ground once more as a result of it left her feeling ‘panic-stricken’.
READ MORE: Rachel Riley’s life together with first marriage, Strictly romance and TV feud
Talking in regards to the prospect of slipping into sequins for the second time, she instructed Metro: “In case you requested me tomorrow to go swimming with nice whites, I’d be there. In case you requested me to do Strictly once more, no means.”
Admitting she felt ‘panicked’ on the BBC present, she continued: “The factor about Strictly is that the music comes on and we panic, whereas with the sharks you may take your time to get down. Rationally, you shouldn’t be extra fearful of one thing that may eat you than dancing on telly. However we’re not all the time rational, are we?”
Regardless of being in no rush to return to Strictly, Rachel discovered love with skilled dancer Pasha on the present, who she was partnered with throughout her time on Strictly Come Dancing.
The couple received collectively in 2014, and stunned family and friends with a whirlwind Las Vegas wedding ceremony in 2019.
“So, we have been by no means bothered about getting married, however then we simply have been like ‘we could simply get married’ as soon as have been have been having the infant,” Rachel beforehand instructed the Categorical.
After Strictly, the maths whizz is now dipping her toe into a really completely different pool as she’s joined by a star-studded forged, which incorporates Sir Lenny Henry, comic Ross Noble, and Amandaland’s Lucy Punch in Shark!, which begins tonight.
The gang are guided by main shark consultants, together with Paul de Gelder – a former marine whose arm and leg have been tragically ripped off by a bull shark in 2009 – however now devotes his life to defending the species that nearly killed him.
Proudly displaying off his prosthetic limbs as he welcomes the gobsmacked celebrities onto the boat, he tells them they’ll be beginning their journey within the water with bull sharks.
Admitting she’s thought she’d be eased in gently ‘in a swimming pool with starfish’, Rachel mentioned: “I used to be anticipating swimming swimming pools with starfish to begin with.
“Pasha and I’ve been to the Galapagos earlier than, and we noticed a vibrant orange factor within the water, considering somebody had dropped a life jacket, however it was truly a sea lion bitten in half making an attempt to get out of the water.”
* SHARK! Celeb Infested Waters begins tonight at 9pm on ITV
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