Strictly professional feared 'she'll never dance again' after health battle

Kristina Rihanoff has recently teamed up with TENA (Image: Joe Pepler/PinPep)

Kristina Rihanoff, the Russian pro famed for her ballroom grace on Strictly Come Dancing, faced a daunting challenge post-motherhood that almost stopped her dancing days for good.

With her daughter Milena's arrival, Kristina contended with the afflictions many new mothers facebladder weakness, a numb pelvic floor, and a significant loss of core strength.

It was an intense eight-month recovery journey, during which she doubted if shed ever return to the stage, with a looming dance tour adding to her pressure.

"It was scary because you think, 'Am I ever going to dance again? '" the dance star revealed to OK! Magazine. "At the end of the day, it's my work, and I love it."

Despite her stellar fitness regime and passion for yoga, she couldn't even muster a basic plank after giving birth, which left her deeply concerned.

"I had no sensation of any kind in my pelvic floor area," Kristina admitted. Accustomed to being hyper-aware of her physical condition through rigorous training and competition, the sudden disconnection from her body was alarming, reports OK! Magazine.

Kristina Rihanoff left Strictly in 2015 (Image: Getty Images Europe)

"I'm very body aware so I was like, 'What is going on? ' I know my body inside out, I have always trained my body and competed at the professional level with very high endurance training so feeling like I couldn't engage my core, and I couldn't engage my pelvic floor, it really freaked me out. I was like, 'What happened to my body? Where is all of that sensation?'".

Struggling with bodily disconnect, Kristina found her mental wellbeing under strain. She shared, "Yes, 100% it affected my mental health," adding that despite avoiding post-natal depression, there were immense fears regarding her career.

"Very thankfully, I didn't have post-natal depression, which quite a few people in my circle did have, but I had worries about the work I love. I was like, 'Well, if this is not gonna get better, then I'm probably not going to be able to dance.' So that was all very scary. It's a scary process of thoughts."

She is now collaborating with TENA for a campaign aimed at empowering women to combat bladder weakness and rediscover strength and normalcy post-childbirth.

According to Kristina, many women yearn to resume their active lifestyles after childbirth, seeking a semblance of normality. "Lots of women I know want to get back to activity after having a child, because you just want to feel kind of normal again. You want to go for that walk, that run, that yoga class... If you feel like you can't control yourself so you shouldn't go, that adds to depression, that adds to mental health issues, that adds to feeling inadequate and feeling bad about yourself."

WARNING TAKEN FROM INSTAGRAM CAPTION: Kristina Rihanoff with daughter LINK TO PAGE: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXhMlNHqZ3f/ (Image: krihanoff/Instagram)

Having left Strictly in 2015, Kristina, along with partner Ben Cohen, has since launched a dance and yoga venture in Northampton, providing a new direction away from TV's limelight, yet she confesses missing those dazzling Strictly days.

"I really, really missed it the first couple of years," confesses Kristina. "You experience a withdrawal. It was so vibrant and fun working together to create something truly cool and amazing. Then life gets busy and now I run a dance school which has expanded significantly. I dance daily with the children, and I have students of various ages and levels, from four and five year olds to adult couples. I'm constantly taking them to competitions."

One such competitor is her eight year old daughter Milena affectionately known as Mila by her and Ben. "I never imagined she would take to ballroom dancing," Kristina admits.

"She initially resisted it. But then she saw other kids winning trophies and she said, 'I want a trophy too! ' I responded, 'Well, you have to learn some dances.' Then she got into it and loved it."

Kristina and Ben were partnered together in 2013 (Image: PA)

However, instructing her own child can be challenging. Kristina shares, "It's a very amusing dynamic when you teach your own kid, it's not straightforward at all. She says, 'Oh Mummy you are so mean! ' I'm not mean! It's demanding but it's also wonderful because it's something we share as our little thing."

Their "little thing" is propelling Kristina back into the limelight. Last month, Mila was selected by former Strictly contestant Sophie Ellis-Bextor for her upcoming music video, alongside another student from Kristina's dance school.

Kristina beamed with pride as she recounted her daughter Mila's casting experience in London, where she shared an Instagram snap, reunited with Sophie. As Mila begins to carve out a reputation in the ballroom scene, industry insiders are already predicting a future for her on Strictly as a pro.

"It was crazy, because we were in the same ballroom where I've done other dance events, and there were even the same producers and choreographers, and everyone was saying, 'Oh, she's gonna be on Strictly like you in a few years! ' I said, 'We'll see what happens.' Same people, same place, but now it's my daughter who is dancing! If Strictly exists in 10 years she might as well have a go!".