Strictly’s Kristina Rihanoff has admitted she found lockdown ‘really tough’ balancing homeschooling and her work life as she candidly opens up about her mental health.
The professional dancer, 43, said she found the last round of restrictions ‘very, very hard’ and struggled to be a teacher to her daughter Milena, five, and two stepdaughters Harriet and Isabelle, 13.
Speaking to hosts Bobby Norris and Stephen Leng on FUBAR radio on Thursday, Kristina said she didn’t want to ‘sugar coat’ how she had been feeling.
Honest: Strictly’s Kristina Rihanoff has admitted she found lockdown ‘really tough’ balancing homeschooling and her work life as she candidly opens up about her mental health
She said: ‘On top of everything that happened, to push the parents, you know, to sort of home-school, and we all kind of were told that we have to give like three hours a day for our home-schooling, at least.
‘And I was like, ‘how can I do that?’ You know, I have two businesses online, the yoga, the kids the dancing classes to run. I have to feed my family, I have to provide for my family and on top of that I have to be a school teacher.’
The Russian dancer explained how she found the whole experience ‘really tough’ and how she doesn’t want to ‘sugar-coat it’ and make ‘other mums feel that I’m any different’, before adding: ‘I’m exactly the same as everyone is.’
Family: The professional dancer, 43, said she found the last round of restrictions ‘very, very hard’ and struggled to be a teacher to her daughter Milena, five, (centre) and two stepdaughters Harriet and Isabelle, 13
Discussing the difficulties in trying to teach the children, she said: ‘I’ve been teaching for 25 years, you know, dancing.
‘I can teach anyone from, you know, tiny tots to obviously elderly and it will be fine. Because this is my craft, this is my education, this is my knowledge, I can do that. I don’t really know much about the spelling, the speed of sound and the rest of it!’
Kristina explained how home-schooling on top of dealing with everything else that came with the pandemic was ‘very, very hard’, adding: ‘I know everybody struggled with mental health in this lockdown, but the last one has been the worst really for everyone.’
She also revealed how her partner Ben Cohen, 42, who she met when she was paired with him on Strictly, struggled mentally during the lockdowns.
Tough: She also revealed how her partner Ben Cohen, 42, who she met when she was paired with him on Strictly, struggled mentally during the lockdowns
The blonde beauty explained: ‘That really affected him too. We spoke about it quite openly in our interview with OK! Magazine.
‘We just kind of were really honest about it because we wanted to let people know that we, as everyone else, have the same issues and the same feelings, you know, and it was the same, you know.’
She added: ‘You just feel like you’re living the same day over and over again.’
Making the best of it: The Russian dancer explained how she found the whole experience ‘really tough’ and how she doesn’t want to ‘sugar-coat it’
On top of worrying about themselves and their family, Kristina and Ben had their business to consider having opened their yoga studio just nine months before the pandemic.
She said: ‘Obviously, if we had a crystal ball in our hands, knowing about it back then, we wouldn’t have opened, but it is what it is.
‘It’s more the worries, the stress around that, but we’re just hopeful that life will come back to normality and business will pick up. And I’m sure a lot of other studios and loads of other sort of, you know, business owners feel exactly the same.’
Difficult: On top of worrying about themselves and their family, Kristina and Ben had their business to consider having opened their yoga studio just nine months before the pandemic
She added: ‘I don’t want to go into the political kind of side of things and say that the government did it all wrong, but they did do it all wrong, in my eyes.’
The pair revealed back in March that they received no financial support from the government despite having had no work for 13 months, as they opened up about the toll it’s taken on them.
The couple – who started up SooYoga holistic wellbeing business together just before the first lockdown – admitted it’s been an incredibly ‘testing’ time for them.
Speaking to OK! magazine, Kristina admitted that they rely on doing lots of personal appearances for income, but all of those work opportunities have been taken away.
She said: ‘It’s very overwhelming. We’ve had no personal support from the government,’ while Ben added: ‘My last job was 13 months ago and I’ve had no support, which has taken its toll.
‘Having a new business, not being able to earn, I’ve found that really hard. As someone who’s self-employed I haven’t had any help.’
Candid: Kristina explained how home-schooling on top of dealing with everything else that came with the pandemic was ‘very, very hard’ (pictured is Ben with their daughter)