Ben Cohen’s ex-wife has spoken out following the news that he and his Strictly Come Dancing fiancée Kristina Rhianoff have decided to split.
The dancer and rugby star – who was married at the time to Abby Cohen – met on the 2013 series of the BBC competition and soon began a relationship.
Last week, it was reported the two, who share one child together, had broken up when a friend of the pair told The Sun the couple had split, stating: “Ben left his wife Abby for Kristina, only to now split with her.”
Now, Abby has issued a blistering take on the update with a candid statement about her ex-husband, whom she has two children with.
Kristina Rhianoff and Ben Cohen met in 2013’s Strictly Come Dancing
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His ex admitted: “I’m sad for Ben. Our marriage broke down and it’s happening all over again to him, and he’s got another child.
“He’s got to start again from nothing, in his late forties.”
Speaking to Mail on Sunday, she added she “doesn’t want to make Ben look more stupid than he already does.”
She also shared how the news brought back painful memories, concerned their two daughters would have to “relive the pain”.
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Ben and Abby Cohen in 2003
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Abby also stated she still has “PTSD” when she hears the BBC Strictly theme.
She went on to tell the publication: “We are total opposites. I’m a homemaker. I’m a family girl. I make stews and Sunday dinners.”
She added: “Me and Kristina are completely different. We look completely different. We like different things. She doesn’t have any wellies, put it that way.
“She doesn’t pick dog mess off the floor like I have to do every day.”
However, after getting engaged in November 2022, the pair called time on their relationship this year.
Speaking in a previous interview, Abby told The Sun: “I was in a mess, I didn’t want to be here any more.
“I was really poorly. I sought help and support. I was really sad for a long time.”
In the 2015 interview, she stated: “My husband, who I was with for 23 years, unconditionally loved and was completely loyal to in every respect, has left me for a f**king Russian dancer.
Kristina Rhianoff and Ben Cohen’s split was reported last week
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The last two years have been the most traumatic thing to ever happen to me. He’s done the dirty on me. I want people to know.”
Cohen, 46, and Russian ballroom dancer Rihanoff, 47, share an eight-year-old daughter together and have supposedly put their £1.7milion Northampton house on the market.