Karen Hauer's three divorces and Strictly heartache as she confirms new romance
Strictly Come Dancing professional Karen Hauer has a new man in her life just months on from the end of her third marriage.
Karen's new boyfriend Simon Davidson gushed over the Venezuelan-American Latin dance specialist, 41, on Instagram on Monday as he celebrated his 38th birthday. "Things can change in an instant [love heart emoji]," retired rugby player Simon began a cute snap of himself and Karen enjoying a winter walk.
"Try to live in the moment you never know what may happen," he continued, concluding with the hashtags: "#love #2024 #live #38." Karen responded with a heart emoji and shared her new boyfriend's post on her Instagram Stories - hard-launching her new relationship to her fans.
As Karen's fellow Strictly pros congratulate their colleague on her new romance, we take a look back on her previous relationships and reveal how she kept a close bond on the dancefloor with one of her co-stars after their divorce.
Matthew and Karen Hauer on So You Think You Can Dance in 2009 (watchSYCYTD/Youtube)Matthew Hauer
Karen's first marriage lasted almost a decade, with the dancer still using ex-husband Matthew Hauer's surname in her professional career despite their divorce. Karen and Matthew both took their romance to the dancefloor in 2009, when they auditioned for the American reality TV series So You Think You Can Dance?
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The former couple did quite well in the competition, managing to impress both judges and a global audience, and even found themselves in the show's top 20 contestants. But while they gelled well on the dancefloor in 2009, Karen and Matthew ended their marriage the very same year after nine years of marriage.
Kevin Clifton
Karen tied the knot for a second time in 2015 after meeting her second husband Kevin Clifton thanks to Strictly Come Dancing in 2013. However, it wasn't meant to be for the two BBC stars and the pair announced their split on live radio just three years on from exchanging vows.
Speaking on the Chris Evans Radio 2 Breakfast Show in March 2018, Kevin revealed: "Privately we are not together anymore but professionally we are stronger than ever before. Dance is how we came together and is what glues us together. We’re still the best of friends – we still have a lot of love and respect for each other. What we’ve found is that since we’ve been honest with each other it’s unlocked our creativity."
Karen and Kevin remained close following their divorce (WireImage)Karen, who was sat next to her ex-husband on the live radio show, added: "We have such strong chemistry and it’s about entertaining and inspiring. At the end of the day it’s about giving back to fans. We’re feeling very positive."
Kevin went on to find love with his 2018 Strictly Come Dancing partner Stacey Dooley, with the couple lifting the Glitterball trophy before going on to welcome a child into the world together last year. Stacey, who gave birth to daughter Minnie in January, is a big fan of her partner's ex-wife Karen.
Kevin, like Karen, has been married and divorced three times - causing Stacey's friends to nickname her Anne of Cleves, in reference to Tudor lothario Henry VIII's fourth wife. Speaking about her boyfriend's multiple marriages in February, Stacey told comedian Michael McIntyre: "You know what's funny, and I shouldn't say this but oh well. He's been married three times before, so my mates call me Anne of Cleves."
Kevin is currently in a relationship with his former Strictly partner Stacey (sjdooley / Instagram)
While Karen is newly loved-up with a former rugby playerMichael replied: "Fourth time lucky", with Stacey telling him: "That's not the phrase." The host responded: "No, third time lucky- he should go back with her." Laughing along, Stacey didn't seem to mind Michael's comment, saying: "She's quite nice, yeah."
Despite Karen and Kevin remaining close after their divorce, the dad-of-one didn't actually tell his third ex-wife about his budding romance with Stacey in 2018. "I don’t really know anything about that. When we go in [to rehearsals] we’re literally going crazy with all the routines. But you know what he looks extremely happy, so I’m happy that he’s happy," Karen told FUBAR Radio in 2019.
At the time, Karen opened up about working alongside her ex Kevin, saying it's not as awkward as people may think. She said: "Most people think that we’d be like ‘oh I don’t like it’, but no. Not at all. We laugh. There is no drama. I don’t like drama baby llama! I’m happy, he’s happy, let’s all be happy."
"I’m so proud of him and all the things he’s been doing lately. For us, it’s never been a problem and it never will be a problem. We’re really cool. We absolutely love working together. We’re dancing together. The nice thing is that we don’t have partners that we are dancing with all the time, we switch partners around, so we all get a feel for everybody else."
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Karen tied the knot for a third time in 2022 (Dave Benett/Getty Images)Jordan Wyn-Jones
Karen's most recent marriage came about in 2022 when she walked down the aisle for a third time and married Jordan Wyn-Jones at Chewton Glen. However, just over a year on from becoming husband and wife, it was all over for Karen and Jordan and they announced their split last year.
Jordan confirmed their separation in an interview with The Mail on Sunday and admitted that while he will always "admire" Karen's dancing career, it often "took her away" from him. He said: "It's a bit of a love story, a sad story. I'm incredibly sad not to be in Karen's life, and not on this journey with her but we're not right for each other in terms of her career. I will always admire her for her career but it took her away from me a lot. She'd be away and I'd be at home on my own."
Jordan also revealed that he had expressed his wish to have children and was surprised when he read in a magazine that Karen had said kids were not in her future. He added: "You do say things like, 'I want to have kids'. And she'd mentioned to me that she wanted to have kids with me. But in the interview, Karen said 'kids aren't in the future' which made me sad. I'd always wanted to be a father."
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