Susanna Reid defends Kevin Clifton over Strictly ‘curse’ after Stacey Dooley splits from Sam Tucknott

The Good Morning Britain presenter split from her partner shortly after dancing with Clifton on the show
Defending: Susanna Reid on Loose Women
Rex Features
Emma Powell18 April 2019

Susanna Reid has defended Kevin Clifton against the alleged Strictly Come Dancing curse after it was reported he is dating his 2018 partner Stacey Dooley.

Reid, who was paired with Clifton in 2013, split from her partner Dominic Cotton shortly after the series wrapped. She defended the professional dancer on Loose Women, deeming the timing of his alleged new relationship a “coincidence”.

“I call it the Strictly coincidence,” she said. “Kevin and I got on like a house on fire and is not responsible for the breakup of my relationship. I’m still fantastic friends with my ex and I’m still really good friends with Kevin.”

Controversy: Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton won the 2018 series (BBC/ Guy Levy)
BBC

Asked how Clifton will feel about accusations of being behind Dooley and Tucknott’s split, she said: “I would say that’s a coincidence unfortunately. In my case, our relationship was at that stage. If you look at Strictly overall, the vast majority in relationships when they start end up in the same relationships.”

Tucknott branded Clifton a “slippery snake” in an interview with the Mail on Sunday in which he revealed he had suspicions in the run-up to the Strictly final last year.

Defending: Susanna Reid and Kevin Clifton on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013
Rui Vieira/PA

“I hold no respect for him whatsoever,” he said before revealing he confronted Clifton in a video call. “He went white. I just stuck it on him.

“You’re an absolute rat. How you conducted yourself. Just a slippery, slimy snake.

“He didn’t say a word. He looked petrified. He looked so shocked.”

Louise Redknapp also broke up with her husband of 19 years, Jamie Redknapp after being partnered with Clifton in 2016. She refuted any talk of the show being to blame for the break down of their marriage.

Loose Women is on ITV, weekdays at 12:30pm

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in