Kristina Rihanoff surprised viewers after announcing she is pregnant on Celebrity Big Brother on Thursday. The Strictly Come Dancing professional revealed that she is expecting her first child with partner Ben Cohen in an emotional announcement to her shocked housemates.
After gathering her housemates together, Kristina explained: "There was something [that] happened in my life before I came into the house over Christmas, and obviously I thought it's very private news, you know.
© Photo: Getty ImagesKristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen are expecting their first child together
"But because we are living as one family now and everybody is sort of supporting one another now, it happened to be that I found out that my boyfriend and I are going to have a little one."
The HELLO! Online blogger struggled to hold back tears as she said: "I just didn't know how to break it, what to say, when to say, it played on my mind and I wanted everyone to hear."
A spokesperson for the couple has since released an official statement which confirmed the news.
The couple met on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013
"Kristina and Ben were surprised and delighted to find out that she was pregnant shortly before she entered the Big Brother house," the statement said. "Kristina is well and looking forward to being a mum."
News that Kristina is three months pregnant came as a surprise to her former Strictly Come Dancing colleagues who inundated the star with congratulatory messages on Twitter.
"Huge congratulations @KRihanoff awesome news!" professional dancer Gleb Savchenko tweeted, while Strictly Come Dancing It Takes Two host wrote: "Congratulations to @KRihanoff".
A spokesperson for Kristina said:“Kristina and Ben were surprised and delighted to find out that she was pregnant...
Posted by Kristina Rihanoff on Thursday, 7 January 2016
Kristina and Ben went public with their relationship in July after competing on Strictly Come Dancing together in 2013. The 38-year-old has since spoken out about what makes their relationship work, telling The Sun: "He sees the real me. We are in a committed relationship, and of course, that involves love. We're constantly together – either at my place or his.
"We're still very new so there's much more left to grow hopefully. It's a work in progress."
