Karen and Kevin were married for three years

Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer has addressed her “tough” marriage split from Kevin Clifton, and has opened up on cheating allegations that surrounded them at the time.

Karen, who has been confirmed to be returning to the dance floor this year, has opened up on why her and co-star Kevin’s marriage came to an end. The former couple were married for three years from 2015 to 2018 until they suddenly split.

But today (May 27) Karen has finally opened up on what exactly happened between them. And why their breakup seemed so sudden to the public eye.

Karen and Kevin split in 2018 (Credit: YouTube

Karen Hauer shuts down allegations she cheated on Kevin

Speaking on Paul Brunson’s We Need To Talk podcast, Karen admitted that their split “hurt” because she always thought they “belonged together”.

Karen explained that Kevin – who has been married twice and is now dating Stacey Dooley – ended the relationship after he saw paparazzi pictures of her with another man. But in reality, Karen admitted she and Kevin weren’t really together at that point.

Speaking about their breakup, she explained: “I felt that he distanced himself from me. But I was probably doing the same. We both weren’t talking about it. It took about a year behind the scenes. But in front of the scenes, everything was good.

There was a big misunderstanding because I was waiting to be loved.

“We fell apart. And me not knowing what was happening in his mind – I knew I would have worked on it and stayed. But I couldn’t be with someone who wasn’t sure if they wanted to be with me or not.”

But while Karen was waiting for something to change, she met someone else. At the time, Karen was then accused of cheating on Kevin. And the pair split not long after. But she has revealed that she didn’t cheat on him. And in reality, she and Kevin weren’t properly together by that point.

She said: “I met someone. We [Kevin and her] weren’t together. But we were together in the public eye. So I met someone. But I wasn’t in a relationship with this person, I only met them a couple of times. But I got snapped up.

“I was portrayed as someone that cheated on him and he saw the pictures. But there was a big misunderstanding because I was waiting to be loved.”

Kevin has since had a child with Stacey Dooley (Credit: ITV)

Karen and Kevin split not long after the pictures

However, these pap pictures were the catalyst of Karen and Kevin’s marriage breakdown. Karen admitted that as soon as he saw the photos, he ended their relationship. And Karen didn’t try to stop him, because it had been heading in that direction for a while.

Karen admitted: “He just wanted a divorce and I didn’t fight him. Something had to happen in order for him to make a decision because I wasn’t going to pull the plug. Then I tripped and a grenade went off.

“We were both in a very tough place. I could see that he didn’t want to let go but that didn’t give him any choice. He had to do the right thing for himself.”

Despite their public breakup, the pair went on to continue dancing together on Strictly until his exit in 2020.

As for how they continued together, Karen admitted they will always have “respect” for each other. But in the end they couldn’t “transfer” their emotions on the dance floor to their marriage.

Since their breakup, Karen has went on to get married to Jordan Wynn-Jones in 2022. Kevin has been in a relationship with Stacey Dooley since 2019, although they aren’t yet married