Caroline Flack: Strictly's Pasha Kovalev breaks silence on former dance partner's death
Duo won Strictly Come Dancing together in 2014
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Strictly Come Dancing star Pasha Kovalev has spoken about dancing with his late dancing partner Caroline Flack for the first time.
Speaking on a live Q&A with Jewish youth organisation JLGB, the dancer described Flack as an “amazing dancer” who did not believe in her own abilities at first.
“I saw her dancing on the first day of rehearsals, I knew she had a lot of potential dance wise,” Kovalev said, explaining how he tried to encourage her.
“I kept reinforcing that in her. It took us pretty much a few weeks – week seven or eight – when we went to Blackpool.
“After that she started to believe in herself a bit more but not enough to say, ‘Oh yes, I’m going to win this competition. I am the best dancer.’
“She was always saying, ‘Oh this person is dancing so much better and this person is dancing so much better.’”
Kovalev recalled performing one routine with Flack on which they received near-perfect scores. They performed the Charleston to Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might be Giants.
“Even when I think about it, I get goose bumps because Caroline believed in it and really embodied that dance and the character,” Kovalev explained.
“When she was dancing, it was like no one else existed.
“It was just her and I in a completely empty room, just dancing for ourselves – even with the audience around us and judges, millions of people watching from home.
“I guess we managed to channel our emotions and feelings into that routine that much we just dissolved in it and that was an unbelievable moment that I will always remember and cherish.”
Flack died by suicide in February; an inquest into her death has been taking place in London this week.
On Wednesday, the former Love Island host’s sister provided a statement in the coroner’s court in which she said that the press and the public found hounding Flack “very entertaining”.
“I believe the shame ... was too much to deal with,” she said.
You can find helpful tips on how to start a conversation or if you are worried about someone on Samaritans website
You can contact the Samaritans helpline by calling 116 123. The helpline is free and open 24 hours a day every day of the year.
You can also contact Samaritans by emailing jo@samaritans.org. The average response time is 24 hours.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments