Yahoo News Rachel Riley admits struggle to spend quality time with Strictly husband
The Countdown star revealed juggling work and children means date nights with dancer Pasha Kovalev are rare.
Rachel Riley has confessed she and husband Pasha Kovalev are struggling to spend time together as they both juggle work and parenting.
The Countdown star life with Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer - who share daughters Maven, two, and Noa, 20 months - feels "in flux" because they are both so busy.
Riley, 37, told The Sun: "We have a rare date night because he’s going to be away for quite a long time.
Read more: Rachel Riley toasts future of Countdown after Anne Robinson exits
"When you first get together, if they’re away for three months and you’ve only been together a month, it’s a big deal.
"But when you’ve been together the best part of a decade and you can see a future of how ever many more decades that you get together, it kind of changes your perspective."
The TV star revealed Kovalev, 43, had recently been away in Romania choreographing a film for five weeks.
She went on: "It’s been busy, it’s been different, but everything is always in flux.
"It would be nice, once I’m not feeding the baby and picking her up, maybe we could even have a night together but that feels like a million miles away at the moment."
The couple welcomed second daughter Noa on Bonfire Night in November 2021.
Riley admitted she is looking forward to a time when she can spend more romantic time alone with Kovalev.
She said: "‘We’re enjoying this phase of having little ones but then we know it’s not going to be forever.
"When the kids get old and move out, you’ve still got each other and we value that and we look forward to that when we can get back to that but also we don’t feel time constrained."
Kovalev and Riley met during the 2013 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where they were partnered together.
The couple married in Las Vegas in June 2019 a month after announcing they were expecting their first child together.
Read more: 'Strictly' curse: What is it and who has fallen for it?
Riley was married to Jamie Gilbert at the time she started training for Strictly but split with him in November 2013, and later went on to date Kovalev after the show came to an end.
Watch: Rachel Riley explains Countdown host Colin Murray's strange nickname for her
