Strictly Come Dancing ‘curse’ victim Nikita Kuzmin is all smiles as he’s seen for the first time since break-up

STRICTLY Come Dancing pro Nikita Kuzmin flashed a thumbs up as he arrived in London for training after splitting from his long-term girlfriend.

This week, The Sun exclusively reported how the Ukrainian champ, 24, seemed to have fallen foul of the programme's infamous curse after we revealed Nikita and partner Nicole Wirt had split after five years together.

We then reported how Nikita was seen covering his head with his leather jacket as he was seen with another mystery female weeks before the split news broke.

Meanwhile German dancer Nicole added more fuel to the fire when a cryptic series of Instagram messages posted by her were unearthed.

Yet Nikita - who is paired with Paralympian Ellie Simmonds in this year's Strictly Come Dancing - is clearly focussed on the task in hand.

He wore dark sunglasses and flashed a huge smile to the cameras as he arrived at the show's Elstree Studios.

Looking sharp, he sported a pale blue suit yet protected the pastel fabric from the rain with a black overcoat.

He rounded off his look with white trainers and a can of Coca Cola - presumably to fuel his intense training sessions.

This week, The Sun exclusively reported how Nikita and Nicole had split - prompting the dancer to move out from his London flat.

The pair had been an item since 2016 with Nicole primarily based in Germany at Strictly judge Motsi Mabuse's dance school.

Yet only a few weeks into the new Strictly Come Dancing series Nikita is said to have called time on their longstanding romance.

Pals said fellow dancer Nicole had moved her belongings out of Nikita’s London flat.

Meanwhile, Ellie, 27, and Nikita were fifth on the leaderboard last week and got a standing ovation for their waltz on Saturday night.

A source said: “Nikita wanted to totally focus on this series of Strictly and decided a while back he wanted to end his relationship with Nicole.

“They had been together for five years and it ended up being a mutual decision.

"Nicole is mainly based in Germany and she is getting busier with work.

“Nikita is totally caught up in Strictly so they decided it was for the best for them to break up."