CBB's Kristina Rihanoff: Strictly professionals don't get the exposure they deserve
The long-running Strictly Come Dancing professional is keen for her turn in the spotlight...
After partnering a string of famous faces on Strictly Come Dancing, professional dancer and choreographer Kristina Rihanoff is ready for her turn in the spotlight.
As she headed into the Celebrity Big Brother house on Tuesday night, she claimed the Strictly pros "don't quite get the exposure they deserve."
Celebrity Big Brother is "the perfect chance for everyone to get to know who I really am," said the 38-year-old.
"You're only [on Strictly] as a dancer and a choreographer and a mentor," the 38-year-old Russian-born dancer had said before her arrival. "It was an incredible platform for me to show my skill and my dancing. But I thought maybe it's time to do something for myself and show who I am."
It's clear Kristina is after a little more of that "exposure", yet she's sending out some mixed messages, also insisting she's not in the house to find fame and that she's not necessarily keen on press attention.
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"I don't really know why everyone is so fascinated in us professional dancers and our lives," she sai. "I didn't go into Strictly for the fame. I went in to be the best artist I could be... I think sometimes people forget that."
"I don't want to be famous. I just want to make a living because I have a family to support."
In fact, the dancer called attention from the media "shocking" and "vicious", criticising the perception of her as a "Siberian siren," a term used recently after her relationship with married contestant Ben Cohen sparked rumours of the infamous 'Strictly curse.'
Strictly Come Dancing returns to BBC1 later this year