Strictly Come Dancing's John Whaite says his relationship is stronger now him and his fiancé are more "independent" from each other.
John and his partner Paul met on Facebook in 2008 and nine years later, in 2017, the pair decided to get engaged. Opening up about their relationship, John discussed that "growing apart" actually made the pair stronger.
During an appearance on Channel 4 show Steph's Packed Lunch, John made the omission as he and the other panellists discussed financial independence from their partners.
"I think independence - financial independence, social independence, independence in every way shape and form - in a relationship is key. To a successful relationship, I think," he said during a chat on Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch.
"When I first got with Paul, we were quite intertwined and enmeshed and nowadays we've kind of grown apart more and become more independent in ourselves and I think it's kind of strengthening the relationship, I think and I hope."
During his time on Strictly, John and his professional dancing partner Johannes Radebe were subjected to romance rumours, amid the infamous Strictly Come Dancing curse.
However, Paul insisted he wasn't worried about the infamous curse.
"If you could see him at the end of the day after a full day’s rehearsing, he can barely walk so there’s no room for anything else. He crawls through the door at the end of the day," Paul shared.
John also denied any possibility of there being attraction between him and Johannes.
He said: "When you spend that much time with someone, you see them warts and all. I think I’ve burped in Johannes’ face - I might have even farted at one point. There is no attraction because you see sweat and everything.
"If you could see our sweaty underpants, you wouldn’t find us sexy."
John was with Paul when he found out he had bagged the Strictly Come Dancing job.
"I got the call when I was in a supermarket on the frozen food aisle, I had to whisper to Paul [his partner] … 'Oh my God'. We got in the car and drove home in silence, we didn’t know how to process it," he explained.
