I got PTSD from Strictly Come Dancing and will NEVER watch it again, says Countdown’s Rachel Riley
COUNTDOWN star Rachel Riley has said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after appearing on Strictly Come Dancing. The 32-year-old star, who competed on the show in 2013, said she avoids watching it – and doesn’t even like to hear the theme music. However, she began dating her Strictly dance partner Pasha Kovalev soon after the show ended […]
COUNTDOWN star Rachel Riley has said she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after appearing on Strictly Come Dancing.
The 32-year-old star, who competed on the show in 2013, said she avoids watching it – and doesn’t even like to hear the theme music.
However, she began dating her Strictly dance partner Pasha Kovalev soon after the show ended in December 2013.
Speaking to OK! she revealed: “I needed cognitive behavioural therapy after competing in 2013 and developed post-traumatic stress disorder.
“If I heard the theme music, I’d start reliving the experience. It was scary and unnerving, so my way of dealing with it is to avoid watching.”
But the mum-of-two added: “Mind you, if I hadn’t competed, I wouldn’t have met Pasha.”
Rachel split from husband Jamie Gilbert in November 2013 and struck up a relationship with the Russia-born dancer.
In May 2019, the star announced that she was pregnant with the couple’s first child and they married in Las Vegas the following month.
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In April this year, the maths graduated revealed she was pregnant with the couple’s second child.
Speaking to The Times earlier this month she said there were “mental pressures involved” in appearing on the gruelling BBC dance show.
She said: “I advise friends not to go on the show and I know people who have dropped out of it due to the mental pressures involved.”
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