Rachel Riley has revealed she has no plans to marry her boyfriend of three years, Strictly star Pasha Kovalev. In a recent interview with the Express, Rachel opened up about her romance with Pasha and explained that the pair feel happy and settled just as they are. "I am in love now," she told the paper. "I don't feel I have to get married. I don't think I need that pressure any more. And I am perfectly happy. I don't worry about getting married or whether he is taking a long time in the morning, or whether he has done the dishes," she continued. "That does not really bother me in the long term. I feel settled."
Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev have been dating for three years
Countdown star Rachel, 31, met Pasha, 37, in 2013 when they were partnered together on Strictly. At the time she was in her first year of marriage to high school sweetheart Jamie Gilbert; the couple announced their split in November 2013, following her appearance on the dancing show. "I met him at university and our relationship ended. We just became good friends. We are still good friends," Rachel said of her ex. "You have to find the right person. It is better to find the right person than stay with the wrong person."
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Rachel has previously shared her thoughts on the so-called 'Strictly curse' and insisted that the show had nothing to do with the end of her marriage after 16 months. "I don't think there is a Strictly curse," she told the Telegraph in 2014. "But it does serve as a magnifying glass that shows up pre-existing fault lines. Jamie and I had been with one another since I was 19, and we are still good friends. It was all amicable and he's been brilliant."