Aliona Vilani has claimed the ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ workload didn’t give her any time to have children.
The 31-year-old dancer – who, along with Jay McGuiness, was crowned the winner of the BBC One ballroom show last year – quit the programme to start a family with her husband Vincent Kavanagh, insisting being on the series left her with no days off.
Speaking to Digital Spy at the TRIC Awards, she said: " ‘Strictly…’ is a really full-on show, so basically you have to take five months out of your life. You don’t see your friends, you don’t see your family, you don’t have any days off. Let’s say I want to start a family and have a baby – I don’t want to take five months out of my life and not be with my child, especially in the beginning. So I think I really had to step away."
Aliona doesn’t regret her decision saying it’s good that the "cast is evolving" but she wishes that things could have been different.
She said: "When I decided I knew what I was doing, but I kind of have no other choice. I really want to start a family with my husband and I can’t just take five months out of my life and not be with my family, without any days off.
"I don’t mind if I would have a day or two days off – maybe that would change my mind – but with ‘Strictly…’ you can’t have that. Every year the cast is always amazing, and every year there’s new dancers, and some of the previous dancers would leave the show, so it’s good.
"The show is evolving, the cast is evolving, so it’s amazing. I think it’s good, it’s healthy."
Aliona Vilani couldn’t continue with non-stop Strictly schedule
