Inside Strictly pro Nadiya Bychkova’s love life – from ‘tempestuous’ dancer romance to secret TV fling & proposal regret
STRICTLY pro Nadiya Bychkova has split from her footballer fiancé and the father of her child, choosing to focus on her career.
The 32-year-old has been comforted by fellow pro Kai Widdrington, after secretly breaking up with Matija Škarabot, in part due to their long-distance relationship.
While Matija is in Slovenia with their five-year-old daughter Mila, Nadiya has been spending her time in the UK, dancing with Dan Walker on Strictly Come Dancing and now on the tour.
But it’s not the first time she’s broken up with a partner in favour of her dancing ambition - having been married before and engaged multiple times.
Stunning Nadiya - who has twice posed for Playboy - even continued to dance with her first love Miha Vodicar up until she was pregnant with Mila.
We take a look at her previous relationships…
'Men just couldn't help falling for her'
Nadiya was born in Ukraine, and then moved to Slovenia at the age of 15, where she had her first taste of success as a dancer and model.
It was also where she met her first love - Miha Vodicar.
He was her partner in and out of the ballroom. They were world champions in 10 Dance - where competitors are judged on ten different styles of ballroom and Latin - in 2014 and 2015.
But in 2010, Nadiya signed up for Slovenia’s version of Strictly, Star Dance, and was paired with model Peter Klinc.
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After rumours of secret liaisons, it was revealed they’d had a fling, prompting a furious backlash from the show’s fans.
A source said: “Nadiya gained a reputation and endured all sorts of name-calling. There were lots of rumours of flings. She’s fiery, passionate and stunningly sexy. Men just couldn’t help falling for her, and she couldn’t restrain herself either.
“She’s a sexually charged, passionate woman. She approaches her love life the way she approaches the dance floor.”
Miha was obviously devastated too - and warned her first Strictly partner Davood Ghadami’s wife of her ways when she joined the BBC show later in 2017.
Calling their relationship “tempestuous,” he told the Sun on Sunday: “It was difficult and broke my heart.
“We got back to dancing almost immediately but it took maybe a year for us to really get past it. We had real issues for two months. It was only after that we decided we had to move on.”
Regrets over accepting bold marriage proposal
Nadiya split from Peter after 18 months in 2011. He explained the situation bluntly, saying: “We are concentrating on our business affairs.”
By the following year she was dating Jan Plestenjak, a guitarist and singer famous in her home country.
Jan was 16 years her senior and reports claimed she had secretly dated him when she was just 18.
Despite rumours of an engagement, they broke up within a year - but soon after Nadiya took the plunge for real.
Having moved on with Russian dancer Sergey Konovaltsev, she agreed to get hitched after a year of dating - when he boldly got down on one knee as she collected an award at a dance championship.
Later Nadiya revealed she had previously turned him down but was stunned by his public display of affection, gushing: “I think I’ve found everything.”
But later she said: “I was in such a state that I did not think too much and, for the first time in my life, responded so spontaneously.
"I still don’t know what happened to me because I’ve never done anything like that. That’s when I was led by intuition, but I’m still wondering why I accepted.”
Unfortunately, in 2015 the marriage collapsed amid rumours of infidelity.
Nadiya found comfort with entrepreneur Anzet Cerin, then 29, who gave her his shoulder to cry on - sparking a new, short-lived fling.
She even declared she was wildly in love with the cycling champion.
Her relationship with him was made public when she wrote on Facebook: “Since I’ve met you, there’s no one worth thinking about.”
Still cheering on first love
Under a year later, it was over again, and Nadiya fell for Slovenian footballer Matija Skarabot.
But even while she was pregnant with Mila, she wrote a passionate letter to her first love Miha, who she'd continued to dance with throughout the years until she got pregnant and parted ways with him.
Describing him as “my dear best friend”, she wrote: “We walked together on a difficult but most beautiful way.
“When we first danced together, I knew we could succeed. We reached high, more than that, basically everything. In the most beautiful embrace, we danced to the very top.
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"Now, when our paths diverge, I want you, from the bottom of my heart, to achieve all the goals that you have set yourself. Start with this national championship! I know that you know that I will always be your greatest support!
“Thanks for ten unforgettable years. Good luck."