Strictly’s Nikita kisses mystery love interest in the street after she cheers him on from the audience of BBC show
STRICTLY Come Dancing’s Nikita Kuzmin has set tongues wagging after puckering up to a mystery woman.
The professional dancer, 25, was spotted sharing an intimate moment with the lady after she watched him perform on Saturday night’s live show.
Nikita looked lost in the moment as he gently placed his hand around her neck in the dark street, having enjoyed a few glasses of wine together.
A short while later, the pair jumped into a taxi and were whisked off into the night.
The lady in question is believed to be model and university graduate Lauren Jaine.
Nikita performed a Grease-themed Viennese Waltz with his celebrity partner, Layton Williams, on Saturday evening.
The pair danced to the song There Are Worse Things I Could Do from the film in honour of Strictly’s Movie Week.
Nikita’s parents were sat in the studio audience watching, alongside his new love interest Lauren.
But Strictly Come Dancing host Claudia Winkleman didn’t acknowledge her.
Instead, she said: “Nikita, your parents are here for the first time.”
The camera then panned to his mum and dad, who were sitting next to the mystery woman.
Nikita said: “It’s very special, it’s very special. I was really excited and I was really nervous.
“But it just makes me feel like a kid. At the end [of the day], I’m just a kid from Ukraine who is just living his dream. It’s just special.”
Lauren did, however, share a snap taken backstage with the caption: “So proud.”
The Sun Online has contacted Nikita’s rep for comment.
Earlier this year, Nikita was believed to be dating Australian sex podcaster Charlie Backshall.
Although they were spotted out together, the pair kept their romance low key to avoid tainting Nikita’s image.
Prior to this, Nikita was in a long-term relationship with German dancer Nicole Wirt. But the couple called it quits in October last year.
A source said at the time: “Nikita wanted to totally focus on this series of Strictly and decided a while back he wanted to end his relationship with Nicole.
“They had been together for five years and it ended up being a mutual decision.
“Nicole is mainly based in Germany and she is getting busier with work.
“Nikita is totally caught up in Strictly so they decided it was for the best for them to break up.”
Following his split with Nicole, Nikita was romantically linked to Strictly 2022 contestant and EastEnders star Molly Rainford.
