Strictly Come Dancing 's Nikita Kuzmin is seemingly focusing on work following reports he has split from his girlfriend.
The professional dancer took to his Instagram Stories today [October 6] to share a series of snippets of himself and Paralympian Ellie Simmonds training for this weekend's live show - brushing off the reports he and long-term girlfriend Nicole Wirt have called time on their relationship.
It's been reported that Nicole and Nikita have made a 'mutual decision' to end their romance after five years together, with a source claiming the professional dancer is keen to focus all his energy on his partnership with Ellie and their bid to lift the coveted Glitterball trophy later this year.
The last live episode of the BBC series saw, Nikita, 24, and his Paralympic champion partner, 27, praised for their "magical" waltz, and come fifth on the leaderboard, impressing both the hard-to-please judges in the studio and Strictly fans watching their performance at home.
"Nikita wanted to totally focus on this series of Strictly and decided a while back he wanted to end his relationship with Nicole," a source has claimed.
"They had been together for five years and it ended up being a mutual decision. Nicole is mainly based in Germany and she is getting busier with work," they added when speaking with The Sun.
Nikita is yet to publicly comment on the rumours surrounding his relationship but is seemingly in good spirits, enjoying a giggle with his dance partner during rehearsals earlier today.
In the videos and clips shared with Nikita's Instagram followers, Ellie can be seen lying face down on the floor as she chuckled and talked to herself, willing her body to have better posture after facing tough feedback from the judges about it last weekend.
"Yes Ellie, you can. You can stay in there. Okay," Ellie laughs in the clip, as she and Nikita prepare for this weekend's highly-anticipated Movie Week.
Laughing at his celebrity dance partner, Nikita can be heard saying: "Who are you talking to?"
"Okay Stop. This is how bamboozled my brain is getting," Ellie tells to the professional dance partner after realising he also in the room "Speaking to myself. I was going to play something out."
After Saturday's waltz, Nikita took to Instagram to praise Ellie and thank their fans.
Sharing a clip of the pair, he wrote: "Beautiful and emotional evening. Hard week, but payed off at the end.
"We had a feeling that we are doing something special and something that’s bigger that us. Well done @elliesimmonds always fighting back, giving it all and performing at best under pressure like the champ that you are."
The professional dancer went on: "Grateful to be there for another week. Thank you everyone who is there for us [love heart emoji] MOVIES WEEK WE ARE COMING [stars emoji]"
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at webcelebs@mirror.co.uk or call us direct at 0207 29 33033
