Karen Clifton has explained why she still wears her wedding ring, despite announcing her split from her husband Kevin Clifton two weeks ago. The pair put on a united front as they appeared on This Morning. When presenter Phillip Schofield asked the newly single dancer why she still wears her ring, Karen said: "We are not divorced yet!" The Strictly Come Dancing stars, who married in 2015, agreed that it was a relief to finally confirm their marriage is over. Their primary focus is their tour, which starts in May.
"Suddenly there was this massive elephant in the room," said Kevin. "Let's say it and be respectful to our fans who want to support us and come and see the show. The tour has been planned since last year. Dancing is how we met and it's what our relationship has always been based on. And it will be what we continue to do."
"We are not divorced yet!" said Karen
Karen added that there was no chance they would give up doing their tour. "We have been dancing together for seven years and that bond that we created as friends, first of all, and then as professional dancers has been very strong," she explained. "To let go of all of that because our private life hasn't worked out the way we wanted it to would have been quite hard.
"It's important to stay positive. Mentally and physically it is a tough thing to do but we are both in a really good place and we are both really happy. You can go through things and continue working with someone you love very much and that you respect."
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Karen, who was rumoured to be relocating to the US once the tour was over, rubbished the claims as she said: "No, no! [I'm not going to the States]. This is my home now and I would love to stay here forever."
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The friendly exes, 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. After months of speculation, Karen and Kevin confirmed the end of their marriage in mid-March. The couple announced the sad news on Chris Evans' radio breakfast show, with Kevin saying: "Privately we are not together anymore but professionally we are stronger than ever before."