Former Strictly Come Dancing stars Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen have announced their engagement after eight years together.
Kristina and Ben met on the show back in 2013, when they were partnered up together and eventually finished in eighth place.
They officially confirmed they were an item in 2015, but were careful to point out they didn’t get together until their time on Strictly was over, with Ben having been married when he first signed up for the BBC dance show.
On Monday, the news of the couple’s engagement was announced in Hello! magazine, with the former rugby player proposing to Kristina while they were on holiday in the Maldives.
“Although we’d talked before about getting married one day, I hadn’t the slightest idea that Ben was planning this,” Kristina told the magazine. “I was overcome with emotion and said ‘Yes, yes and yes’ straight away.
“My first reaction was wow. It was absolutely surreal and I couldn’t believe what was happening. I’m usually very perceptive but I didn’t have a clue Ben had been planning this. How he managed to keep it a secret was amazing.”
She added: “After eight years with Ben, our love is stronger than ever.”
Ben said of Kristina: “Love has different meanings and for me, that’s a relationship with a partner who’s been through difficult times with me and together we move forward.
“She’s the person I want in my life forever.”
Kristina and Ben welcomed a daughter, Milena, in June 2016, with the former Strictly pro announcing her pregnancy while in the Celebrity Big Brother house earlier in the year.
Ben is also a father to 14-year-old twins Harriette and Isabelle, whose mum is his ex-wife, Abby Blayney.