Strictly dancer who left Fern Britton in tears revealed by Ny Breaking: TV star’s experience with Artem Chigvintsev revealed in new Strictly scandal that’s a fresh blow for beleaguered show

Fern Britton has told how Strictly Come Dancing left her in tears.

In her new book, The Older I Get, which airs exclusively on Ny Breaking, the 67-year-old makes no mention of her Strictly partner, although she describes her negative experiences with him on the show.

It can be revealed she danced with Artem Chigvintsev in the 2012 series Strictly.

The revelations in the series will be a further blow to Strictly bosses who have been battling firefighting crises for months, following the fallout from the Amanda Abbington and Giovanni Pernice scandal, and could force the BBC to re-examine previous series.

The former This Morning presenter, who was voted off after six weeks on Strictly, writes in the book that rehearsals for the BBC’s flagship program were ‘challenging’.

Fern opens up about her struggles with the show, which returned to our screens last month for its 20th anniversary series.

Fern opens up about her struggles on the show which returned to our screens last month for its 20th anniversary series

She added: ‘As the weeks went by, I found it increasingly difficult to build my confidence.’

She felt like she would do anything to please her frustrated dance partner [taken from attached extract of her book]. Her time on the show even made her worry if she was suffering from Stockholm Syndrome.

Russian professional Chigvintsev, 42, left Strictly in 2014 to join the cast of the US version of talent show Dancing With The Stars.

After living in the United States, he married retired wrestler Nikki Garcia, 40, in 2022. The couple have a four-year-old son.

More recently, in August this year, he was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence, but US prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against him.

He later claimed that it was his wife who was the aggressor in the domestic dispute.

Two weeks after he was arrested, she filed for divorce from him. Earlier this month he accused her of domestic violence.

He claims she was “the aggressor” in their recent domestic violence dispute, which led to his arrest on August 29.

In images filed with the Superior Court of California, Artem showed marks and bloody scratches on his elbow and hands, as well as behind his ear, which he claims were inflicted on him by Garcia.

In a statement obtained by the famous Page Six column, his lawyer, Ilona Antonyan, claimed: “Mr Chigvintsev contacted the police on 08/29/2024 to seek protection from his wife’s continued aggression.

“While on the phone with police, Ms. Garcia-Colace made a sharp statement: “Do you understand where this is going now, Artem? You just ruined my career, and you know it.”

Artem has since received a restraining order against Nikki, which was also previously served against him.

Read Fern’s full amazing story on Ny Breaking.