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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Frances Kindon & Freddie Bennett

Strictly: Molly Rainford and Nikita's 'flirtation - tactile touches and joined at hip'

Strictly hopeful Molly Rainford swore off romance before taking part in the show, insisting she wanted to focus on her career.

But despite her best intentions, romance is said to have struck for the former Britain's Got Talent star, who has been linked to Strictly professional Nikita Kuzmin.

Rumours flew after the pair were apparently spotted looking close at the National Television Awards earlier this month, with The Sun claiming the pair are 'dating'.

According to onlookers, the pair were inseparable at an NTAs after-party, and left together at 1am after spending the evening 'attached at the hip'.

A source said: "They spent time together with some of their Strictly co-stars but they seemed to only have eyes for each other. They kept staring at each other and were being very tactile.

Molly Rainford was apparently spotted looking cosy with Nikita at the NTAs (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Nikita walked the red carpet with dance partner Ellie Simmonds (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

"When the night was over Nikita and Molly ordered Ubers separately but it appeared they were heading to the same place together as she was speaking to him about where they were going next."

And a second insider claimed that the pair have indeed bonded, telling The Sun: "It's early days but they have grown close over the past month performing on Strictly and at the NTAs they had a chance to let their hair down."

Nikita is newly single, having split from girlfriend of five years, Nicole Wirt, at the start of the show.

For Molly's part, she'd vowed to stay away from romance, declaring: "I'm only 21, so I’m not looking for a relationship on Strictly. That's not in the picture right now. I want to focus on my career.

"My parents don't want me to be distracted or worrying about boys just yet. I'm single and don't plan on changing it."

Molly with brother Billy, dad Dave and mum Sarah (Supplied by Doreen Rainford)
Molly swore off romance at the start of Strictly (PA)

Molly - who stars as the title character in CBBC comedy drama series Nova Jones - is no stranger to the spotlight, having first found fame on the 2012 series of Britain's Got Talent when she was just 11 years old.

She came in sixth place but Simon Cowell and Sony Music were so impressed that they awarded Molly their first ever drama school scholarship Sylvia Young Theatre School.

The actress and singer went on to collaborate with the likes of Plan B, and in 2019 she released an EP called Commitment which raked in more than two million streams.

She then followed that with a collection of festive tracks called Christmas (Baby Please Come Home).

And her biggest fan is her gran, who was entrusted with Molly's Strictly secret before anyone else knew she was on the show.

Doreen Rainford had to keep her lips sealed for three weeks and told The Mirror it had been a struggle.

Molly found fame on Britain's Got Talent (Ken McKay / Rex Features)
She went on to become a major TV star (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images for BRIT Awards Limited)

The 82-year-old said: "I was told about her going on Strictly before everyone and I had to keep it quiet, which was very hard – because I’m a gossip. I don’t know how I did, but I did."

Doreen, who still has the signed photo Molly gave her when she competed on BGT, said they still have a very close bond.

She used to look after her granddaughter at weekends when Molly’s dad was playing football and her mum was watching from the sidelines.

Doreen now watches Molly on Nova Jones every week – despite not understanding what’s happening.

She said: "I've not got a clue what it's on about. But if she's on telly we watch it."

The proud gran will be tuning into Strictly, too. She said: "As soon as they give the numbers I'm going to write them down so I can vote. Whatever they throw at Molly she'll take it."

Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.50pm on BBC One

Who do you think will face the dance-off this week? Have your say in the comments section below...

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