Karen Clifton and Kevin Clifton have announced the end of their three year marriage. The Strictly stars confirmed the sad news during an appearance on Chris Evans' radio breakfast show, with Kevin stating that they will still be going ahead with their dance tour in May, despite their separation. He said: "Privately we are not together anymore but professionally we are stronger than ever before. Dance is how we came together and is what glues us together. We're still the best of friends – we still have a lot of love and respect for each other. What we've found it that since we've been honest with each other it's unlocked our creativity." Karen added: "We have such strong chemistry and it's about entreating and inspiring. At the end of the day, it's about giving back to fans. We're feeling very positive."
Karen Clifton and Kevin Clifton have announced their split after three years of marriage
The couple, both 35, tied the knot in 2015 after Kevin popped the question on Karen's 31st birthday, during a performance of Burn The Floor. Rumours of a split first surfaced at the end of last year, and were further fuelled when the couple didn't dance together in the Strictly final. It's also thought that the pair spent Christmas apart, with Karen flying back to the US to be with her family.
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The Strictly couple will still be going on tour together in May
Karen appeared to dispel the speculation in a recent interview with the Mirror, saying: "Kevin and I start our own tour in May which we are really looking forward to. We are really excited and we are creating right now and just talking through everything." When further probed about their relationship, she replied: "We are in an amazing family show on Strictly and at the end of the day we love what we do. People are going to be interested but at the end of the day we are happy."
The couple also put on a united front at the filming of The Bruce Forsyth Celebration at London Palladium, which aired on TV this week and showed Karen and Kevin dancing together.