Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova has revealed she is in a desperate battle to get her grandmother out of war-torn Ukraine.
The professional dancer, 33, admits she still finds it hard to believe a war has taken over her home country, having hoped "it would maybe last for a week or two".
The Ukrainian ballroom and Latin American dancer says getting her grandmother to the UK is "difficult" as she doesn't want to leave her home.
Yet Nadiya believes she will be safer in England as she is "so worried" about anything happening to her.
“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," she told GB News.
The mum of one told Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster: “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."
She added: "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."
Nadiya and boyfriend Kai Widdrington, 27, began dating last year and have hit the road with their dance show, Once Upon a Time.
The Strictly stars have created a brand-new dance show where they will be performing for the first time on stage together.
They wanted to create a show that highlights their different backgrounds, showcasing their ballroom journeys while shining a spotlight on their love affair with dance.
Nadiya recently admitted during Strictly they work ten hour days so finding time to spend together is hard.
She said: "We don't really get to see much of one another because we are working with our own celebrities.
"You can be in a different part of the UK, and then you only see each other when you get to the studio, you say 'oh hi'."
