BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Nadiya Bychkova left home at age 10 and was 'down to last 5 euros'
Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova has opened up about her tough start in life after leaving home at age 10 to pursue her dancing dream. The Ukranian dancer, aged 35, shared some of the challenges she has had to overcome, including her family being 'down to their last 5 euros'.
It comes as the professional dancer, who has wowed on the BBC show since 2017, prepares to bring her new intimate show "A Special Evening with Nadiya Bychkova" to the Midlands. As well as dancing, Nadiya has promised to tell those attending 'some secrets' as she prepares to talk all about her life and time on the BBC show, and answer questions from the audience.
Ahead of the Birmingham and Coventry shows, Nadiya, who recently split from her Strictly co-star Kai Widdrington, shared details of her life. Speaking about her early struggles with poverty, Nadiya advised those thinking about starting a career in dancing: "You have to remember that there is always struggle behind the sparkle. Success in the world of dance never comes without sacrifice.
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"I left home at the age of ten to pursue my dream. There was a point at which my mum and I were down to our last five euros, but it was all worth it."
She added: "The other thing is don’t forget to enjoy it. Whatever is happening in your life, in the world, in society. When I dance, my whole perspective changes. I don’t dance because it makes me happy, I’m happy because I dance."
Nadiya also spoke about having to make major changes to her life after welcoming her daughter Mila, now seven, with her ex-fiancé, Matija Skarabot, a Slovenian football player. She said: "In 2014, and then again in 2015, I was world champion. The year after that I had my beautiful daughter Mila.
"I realised pretty quickly that the world of professional dancing was not best suited to being a mum, so in 2017 I took up the opportunity to come to the UK and work on a show called Strictly Come Dancing. I knew it was big, but only realised just how big it was when I started dancing on it.
"It is the biggest thing on TV and the audience care a lot about it. It’s really special to work on something that means so much to so many people."
Speaking about her downtime with her daughter, Nadiya added: "My family are everything to me. I love spending time with my daughter Mila and she is really enjoying her dancing at the moment, so many of my weekends involve me just being a dance mum.
"My daughter loves watching me perform, she’s becoming quite a dancer herself. I’m working hard to be the best mum that I can and I’m trying to protect and inspire my daughter at the same time, whilst making sure she has every opportunity to achieve whatever she wants to in life.
"I also love golf, food and friends. I have been learning how to play golf for a year now and I totally love it. I take my clubs most places with me. I also love to DJ, so if I ever hang up the dancing shoes, I will be able to keep myself busy."
Ahead of this latest show, Nadiya said: “I’m very excited to bring this up close and personal show to these lovely venues on my latest tour. It’s a chance for people to meet me and hear my stories.
"I will talk about my upbringing, my early years competing across the world, travelling with my Mum, the heartbreaks and highs of becoming a professional dancer, and finally landing my dream job of being a professional dancer on the world’s favourite TV show. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone!”
A limited number of meet and greet VIP tickets are also available, allowing fans to meet Nadiya for a photo opportunity before the show. For full dates and more information, visit https://nadiyabychkova.co.uk/.
A Special Evening with Nadiya Bychkova will take place at the Holiday Inn Coventry on Thursday, March 6 and the Holiday Inn Birmingham on Saturday, April 26