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Rachel Riley on having therapy after Strictly: ‘I was never going to be perfect’

Rachel was on the show 11 years ago

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Rachel Riley once opened up about needing to have therapy following her stint on Strictly Come Dancing.

The Countdown star – now 38 – took part in the hit BBC One show back in 2013. She was eliminated in week six of the competition.

Pasha Kovalev and Rachel Riley dancing on Strictly
Rachel took part in Strictly in 2013 (Credit: BBC)

Rachel Riley on therapy after Strictly

Back in October 2014, during an interview with The Guardian, Rachel revealed that she’d had to get therapy following her stint on Strictly.

Rachel took part in Strictly in 2013. She was paired up with Pasha Kovalev. Together, they reached week six before being eliminated.

During the interview, Rachel opened up about her TV career, and why she had decided to do Strictly.

She said that she likes doing things that “scare” her – which she gets to do on TV.

Rachel was then asked whether this was why she decided to do Strictly.

Rachel Riley smiling in a pink top and red velvet skirt at a red carpet event
The star had therapy after the show (Credit: SplashNews.com)

Rachel Riley on her Strictly experience

Rachel replied, saying: “I like doing different things. So, from doing Strictly I learned that I was a perfectionist. I got stage fright and actually had CBT [cognitive behavioural therapy].

“The guy was brilliant: I didn’t realise I was a perfectionist, because I didn’t want things to be perfect and thought that’s what a perfectionist was. But it’s more that you are never satisfied with yourself,” she then continued.

The star then continued, saying that she thought she was “worst” at dancing on the show, despite not actually being the so-called worst.

“In my head I was never going to be able to achieve what I wanted to achieve, because I was never going to be perfect. So it’s just learning to have an achievable goal, a sense of what is a good outcome, because otherwise you are never satisfied,” she confessed.

Rachel and Pasha

Of course, Rachel met her now-husband on Strictly.

They went public with their relationship shortly after dancing on the show together. In 2019 they tied the knot, and later that year, they welcomed their first child together, Maven.

In 2021, they had another daughter, Noa.

Speaking to HELLO! magazine last year, Rachel said they were probably done with having any more babies.

“We’re happy where we are. If I had all the help in the world and all the staff in the world to keep having babies…but I think we’re happy with two,” she said.

“We’re just starting to get out of the woods and they can play together now. They can be left together for a little bit, it’s starting to get a little bit easier. So I think we’re on that note.”

Read more: Rachel Riley admits she and husband Pasha ‘like ships that pass in the night’

Countdown is on weekdays at 2.10pm on Channel 4.

Rachel Riley & Pasha Salsa to 'Get Lucky' - Strictly Come Dancing 2013: Week 2 - BBC One

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Robert Emlyn Slater
Senior Writer