Strictly Come Dancing’s Karen Clifton has said she is looking to team up with a celebrity who will “enjoy the journey”, 12 months after her partner Will Young quit the show.
The singer walked out just three weeks into last year’s series despite a strong start in the competition for the duo.
As TV chef Simon Rimmer became the seventh celebrity unveiled for the upcoming series, Karen told the Daily Star On Sunday: “Whenever you’re on the show you’re hoping you’ll get someone who wants to be there.
“Strictly is so loved and you want someone who is keen to learn and is ready for a new adventure.”
She described Young’s departure as a “difficult time”, adding: “This series I’m just hoping for a partner that’s fun and wants a good time and who will enjoy the journey – and be there.
“I’m looking forward to this year.
“I’d love to do as well as my partner wants to do. You always want to make sure your partner goes as far as they can. That’s what is important.”
Will recently explained why he felt he had to quit.
And he said it definitely wasn’t because Len Goodman didn’t like his salsa.
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“It was important for me to leave Strictly for my own wellbeing,” he told The Times Magazine in a recent interview.
“It was a number of things. It was nothing to do with the people on the show, and it certainly wasn’t because Len Goodman dissed my salsa – I mean, come on!
“I love dance, and because of the stuff that was going on personally, I just wasn’t enjoying the dancing.”
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Previously, Will had opened up about being a porn and alcohol addict and it turns out that he left Strictly to find an unusual way to deal with that – visiting a shaman, a spiritual healer.
He explained: “I heard about her and thought, ‘I’ll give it a go.’ I don’t talk about what happens in the shamanic process because it goes beyond words.”