Celebrity Big Brother's Nikita Kuzmin, known for his role as a professional dancer on BBC One's Strictly Come Dancing, has a life off-screen that is just as interesting.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian-Italian choreographer, who quickly became a fan favourite in the competition, is currently in the Celebrity Big Brother house. But what about his life when he's not dancing or on TV?
Who is Nikita Kuzmin's girlfriend?
Nikita is dating Lauren Jaine, a 23-year-old model with over 8K followers on Instagram. She's signed with First Model Management and is a graduate of Durham University, according to her Instagram page.
It's unclear when Nikita and Lauren started dating, but by last summer there were rumours of a relationship. Nikita first posted a picture of his girlfriend on his Instagram account in October of last year, but it was in August when he first appeared on her social media during a romantic trip to Croatia, reports Birmingham Live.
The couple also recently enjoyed a holiday together in Dubai, where they had fun quad biking in the desert. After their holiday in August, Lauren posted many pictures of Nikita on her Instagram page, including a lovely photo of them both at the Strictly studios at Elstree.
There were several reactions from other Strictly Come Dancing pros to Nikita and Lauren's picture at Elstree Studios. Neil Jones commented, saying: "You two are so cute," while Carlos wrote: "My Love." Nikita promptly responded with: "Love you" along with a red heart emoji.
This recent series of Strictly saw Lauren visiting the set multiple times to cheer on her boyfriend and his dancing partner, Layton Williams. In November, she posted a backstage photo of herself, Layton, and Nikita all dressed in purple following their Argentine Tango performance. In the snap, fans saw Lauren rocking a long dress with a stylish cut-out around her stomach area.
Her caption read: "Team purple!" Not long before this, Lauren supported her boyfriend publicly when he was announced as a contestant on the 2024 season of Celebrity Big Brother. Sharing a collection of pictures of them together, she wrote: "The secret is out! As much as I'm going to miss this crazy boy, I'm so excited for him to be part of this amazing experience. The gattos and I will be watching every single night! ! ! ! Love you @nikita__kuzmin."
Concern for family in Ukraine
Last year, Nikita opened up about his concerns for his family due to the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. He revealed on Loose Women that many of his relatives, including grandparents, aunts and uncles, were trapped in the war-torn country. He told everyone that he calls his grandparents "every single day". Then, Nikita was able to bring his grandma to a safe place after she made it to Poland.
He said on Instagram: "Picked up my grandma from Poland! She is so incredibly brave and strong, 2 nights without sleeping, walking 8km+ in the freezing cold when on a normal day, she can barely walk! She travelled from Kyiv, my mom flew from Rome and I drove from Frankfurt and we all reunited in Krakow! Just so happy to be together."
He also said: "When I was waiting for my mom and grandma at the train station, I've been immersed in this situation for the first time in real life. Although I know I should have been happy for my family, I couldn't. Just had tears in my eyes, because of how sad the situation was. How many thousands of kids and women doing their absolute best to stay strong."
Diabetes and a Secret Tattoo
Nikita found out he had type 1 diabetes when he was a little boy. Now, he tells people about what it's like to live with it, calling it his "superpower". He told his fans on Instagram that he's "proud to be diabetic" and to wear a sensor, even though he has "good and bad days".
In a hopeful message, Nikita said: "Shared a bit of my personal story this morning and hope to send a little message to maybe that one person who needs a bit of positivity in a newfound condition. Your life will be fine! Everything is ok. You can manage everything!"
On the TV show Morning Live, he shared his feelings: "When I found out, I thought, 'My career's over,' and the next morning I woke up and I saw all those kids smiling and they were happy and they were diabetics just like me. I went out of my room and - this is one of my best memories in my life - there was this wall of fame."
He also talked about how it inspired him: "It was all of the famous, successful diabetics - Olympians, Paralympians, presidents, actors - everything. And actually, I think I made quite a few of them up because I thought there were quite a few more people than there actually were. I checked a couple of days ago and most of them were not even there."
Nikita has a mysterious tattoo that has got fans talking. He posted a cheeky photo on Instagram with a caption that teased: "What do the tattooed numbers mean on my arm? (wrong answers only)" but he kept the real meaning a secret. Although Nikita doesn't share much about his private life, we've had little glimpses. He's a cat lover, with two cats called Leo and Bagheera, and has given us a peek at his stylish home.
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