Will Young's decision to quit Strictly Come Dancing was met a with lot of controversy, and left his dance partner Karen Clifton "heartbroken". Now, in a new interview, the professional dancer - who is married to fellow Strictly star Kevin Clifton - has revealed she hasn't spoken to the former Pop Idol winner since he left the competition.
"I haven't really been in touch with Will since the show," the 34-year-old told Radio Times. "I think everybody understands his reasons and we all understand, but it's hard when there's the other half. It's my job and I love my job and it was really hard for me to stay behind and see everybody have an amazing series and not to be a part of it."
Karen Clifton has revealed she hasn't spoken to Will Young since he quit Strictly
During week three of the competition last October, Will announced he was leaving the show for "personal reasons," following an awkward row with head judge Len Goodman. At the time it was believed Len's "turn up, keep up and shut up" comment after their salsa routine was one of the reasons Will quit the show - although the now-retired head judge has refuted the claims.
Speaking about dancing with the pop star, Karen confessed she had high hopes for the pair of them in the competition. She added: "He was great when I first started, I was like 'I have somebody who can really do a lot of special things' - so it really did break my heart when he walked."
"It really did break my heart when he walked," she said
"Obviously I completely support his decision, but it was really hard to see and to be a part of the show after he left at a very early stage," the TV star continued. "I've had some great partners in the past and I'm still friends with all of them, but this time I had one that really had something, that could really do everything that I wanted him to do. He had that thing that you wait for every year."