Kevin Clifton and Anneka Rice danced the Cha Cha Cha to Gloria on Saturday night's first live Strictly Come Dancing of the series. And ahead of their performance, the pro dancer took to Instagram to wish his celebrity partner the best of luck. However, Kevin was then forced to clarify false reports about him after one of his users asked whether he was over being partnered with Anneka. They wrote: "Have you got over your sulks now Kev?" to which he responded: "What do you mean?" The user then explained: "The sulks that you were supposedly having because you didn't get a partner that will win you the SCD crown again. I know you never did though, good luck!" Kevin then replied: "Oh haha, they'll write anything these days. Cheers."
Kevin Clifton has responded to reports that he isn't happy with his dance partner
On Saturday night, Kevin and Anneka scored 14 points from the judges, who gave them two threes and two fours for their routine. After being told their scores Kevin and Anneka were filmed responding to their marks and Kevin sweetly reassured Anneka that it was a good start. He said: "Two threes and two fours. We don't want to be really good on week one with nowhere to go."
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Kevin and Anneka Rice look like they are having lots of fun dancing together
Kevin has an army of loyal fans who will be cheering him and Anneka on throughout the competition, and he also has the support of his girlfriend and former Strictly partner Stacey Dooley. On Saturday ahead of the first show, Stacey shared a lovely photo on Instagram of the pair together cuddled on a couch, and wrote: "Go get 'em reigning champ. Good luck to the class of 2019."
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Since they started dating, Kevin and Stacey have remained quiet about their relationship. However, on the latest episode of his podcast, The Kevin Clifton Show, the dancer made a rare reference to her while talking about his experience with negative press online. In the latest episode, Trolls, Media & Odd Ones Out, Kevin revealed that he had noticed more and more stories coming out about himself after he won the show with Stacey. He said: "Especially when Strictly comes around, I won Strictly in the last series with Stacey Dooley so saying things about me at the moment that are click-bait that make me look bad are going to get attention. I read things sometimes and it can get upsetting if you let it in."
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