Karen Clifton is celebrating a very special day on Friday, her 36th birthday. The Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer has been receiving tons of birthday messages from fans and has taken to Instagram to thank them for the well wishes. "Thanks for all the birthday messages, it's really, really sweet and nice to wake up to. I am 36-year-old today even though I feel 86," she says whilst enjoying the London sunshine in her garden with her rescue dog Betty.
Revealing her birthday plans, the star told her fans she was going to "enjoy the sunshine and drink my coffee". Karen, who is estranged from her husband Kevin, then shared a clip showing her dog Betty rolling in the grass and affectionately calling her "my boo".
This is Karen's first birthday since splitting from her husband of two years, fellow professional dancer Kevin Clifton. The couple announced their separation in March during an appearance on Chris Evans' radio breakfast show. Talking about their dance tour, which starts in May, Kevin 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."
MORE: Exclusive! Strictly's Karen and Kevin Clifton say they are 'stronger than ever'
The couple 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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