Stacey Dooley has admitted that she is not keen on marrying her partner, Kevin Clifton.
The presenter said she’s reluctant to walk down the aisle with the three-times divorced Strictly pro with whom she recently welcomed first child.
“Marriage has never been massively important to me,” she said.
“Also, it’s well documented that Kev’s done it a couple of times before. So, you do have to bear that in mind, coming down the aisle like, ‘Hello everyone, I know what you’re all thinking.’ It’s just never been something I’ve dreamt about.”
However, the 36-year-old said she is happy to be raising daughter Minnie, born in January, with the dancer by her side.
“I couldn’t have done this [parenting] without Kev,” she added to The Sun. “It’s weird. I’ve always loved him, but it’s a different love I have for Kev now.”
The BBC documentary host, who started dating shortly after they won Strictly Come Dancing together in 2018, continued: “I don’t subscribe to the idea that you offer more stability if you’re married, because we know loads of marriages end in divorce.
“But Kev – I don’t want to sound too gushing or soppy, but I couldn’t have done this without Kev. I couldn’t have done this with anyone else.”
When asked about how she’s coping with being a new mother, she replied: “You’re so tired and sometimes you really feel like you’re in the trenches, it’s a haze and you’re just trying to figure it all out."
But Dooley said she is keen on expanding her family. “I think I would love to have more babies. But I said to Kev the other day, ‘Don’t you want to do this again?’ And he went, ‘Are you nuts? You’re over-tired!’
“I don’t know how people have four children. I’ve had one and am completely failing.”
In 2019 Dooley announced she had split from her personal trainer boyfriend Sam Tucknott after five years together. Shortly after, she took to Twitter to defend herself after he accused her of dumping him for Clifton.
She wrote: “Anyone with any adult life experience knows there are two sides to every story. I haven’t got the time or energy to correct some of the utter nonsense I’ve read on here.
“Re: Sam, I loved him very much and only wish him happiness and success going forward.”
Tucknott later admitted to the Mail On Sunday that their relationship was under strain since the star had started spending 14 hours a day training with Clifton for the BBC ballroom show.
