Popstar's marriage suffered during her stint on Strictly Come Dancing in the 2000s.

One of the former stars of Strictly Come Dancing, Sophie Ellis Bextor, recently opened up about the impact the show had on her marriage. In her 2021 memoir, Spinning Plates, she revealed that her husband, Richard Jones, had started therapy due to concerns about the infamous "Strictly Come Dancing curse" weighing on him.

Sophie appeared on the BBC dancing series in 2013, where she was paired with professional dancer Brendan Cole. Although the pair reached an impressive fourth place, Sophie's time on the show took a toll on her marriage to Richard, who is the bassist for the band The Feelings. In her memoir, Sophie wrote about how they each paid a "heavy price" for her involvement in the show.

During her time on Strictly, Richard struggled with the physical closeness between Sophie and Brendan, which was a necessary part of the competition. Sophie recalled how he became "unusually insistent" on knowing her whereabouts at all times and would become anxious if she didn't respond to his texts immediately. It seemed that he feared she would become caught up in a new life and leave their family behind.

To cope with the challenges of the show, Richard began attending counselling sessions. In recent weeks, there has been renewed interest in Sophie's memoir and the strain it caused on her marriage. Sophie addressed this on her Instagram, sharing a post from Richard where he encouraged anyone struggling with overwhelming emotions to seek help.

Although their marriage faced difficulties during Sophie's time on Strictly, Sophie and Richard have been together since 2005 and now have five sons. Sophie has shared that even for their strong marriage, the show put a strain on their relationship, especially with three marriages breaking up and two babies being born from fellow contestants and their dance partners that year.

Despite the challenges, Sophie and Richard have come out stronger and are now able to look back on their Strictly experience as a happy memory. They hope that the show will provide more support for couples going through similar difficulties in the future. As for Strictly Come Dancing, fans can look forward to its return to BBC later this year.

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