Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova has revealed the battle she has been facing to try get her grandmother to leave war-torn Ukraine and join her in the UK.
The professional dancer, 33, now lives in London but is originally from the Ukrainian city Luhansk, where a number of her family members have been forced to flee due to the on-going conflict with Russia.
Speaking to GB News on Wednesday, she said: “It is very difficult. In the part of Ukraine she is in, the war started long ago in 2014.
“So, in the worst possible way we kind of got used to it. What is difficult is being away now because you used to be able to get on the plane and two hours later you are there.
“Now it takes three days to get there and you never know what can happen along the way.
“My mum’s travelling more often to see my grandmother and to make sure she’s okay. But it’s just really hard.”
Admitting that she still find the current situation hard to believe, Bychkova – who joined the BBC dance competition in 2017 – continued: “I still can’t believe that this is all happening. And it just doesn’t stop. I think at first I couldn’t believe it and I thought, and hoped, it would maybe last for a week or two but here we are longer than a year in and it’s still going on.
“I’m trying to get my grandmother here but it’s difficult as she’s older and she’s like ‘Well that is my home, I don’t want to leave’.
“But at the same time I’m so worried if anything happens. There’s not much I can do straight away because it’ll take me three days to get there.”
