Strictly Come Dancing: James Jordan blasts Kristina Rihanoff for 'playing innocent card' after threatening to quit show

Former Strictly star James Jordan has criticised fellow dancer Kristina Rihanoff for threatening to leave the programme.

Accusing his former co-star of playing the 'innocent card', Jordan says that she never had any intention of quitting, despite her claims that rumours about her love life nearly caused her to hand in her notice.

Jordan told The Sun: "There's no way she would quit the show, that's a fact. We can all play the innocent card, the 'Feel sorry for me' card, that's easy. Trust me, she won't leave Strictly."

Speaking on Loose Women last month, Rihanoff claimed that rumours of a relationship with former partner, Ben Cohen, nearly destroyed her career.

She said: “Last year, [I was] almost there. I was in a bad place because my mother was suffering with a breast cancer scare and the press were so horrific at that time that I thought that maybe there was a time where I needed to step out.

“She [my mother] was extremely upset and she was absolutely devastated to read some of those things.”

The Russian dancer added: “I didn’t come on the show to be portrayed in a certain way or for my private life to be slashed across the papers, because we all want some privacy.”

Cohen, who split from his wife of 11 years soon after appearing on the BBC show, has stayed tight-lipped about the affair rumours, but is set to publish a tell-all book later this year.

Jordan has admitted that he sometimes gets jealous of wife Ola Jordan's close proximity to the male celebrities that she is partnered with on the show.

He said: "Dancing is very passionate and you're touching in places out of the norm. I get jealous sometimes, especially when Ola is on the show and dancing with someone good-looking.

"It's normal to get jealous but there's a line and when it goes past it, it can get nasty."