EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
SPARKLING ‘STRICTLY’ STARS
TELL US WHY THEY’RE SO PERFECTLY IN STEP ON AND OFF THE DANCEFLOOR
When HELLO! joins StrictlyCome Dancing’s ’ Eddie Kadi and his professional partner Karen Hauer for our exclusive interview and photoshoot, they’re in the middle of ordering lunch.
“Make sure we get the fried yuca,” says Karen to Eddie, who then tells us with a smile: “Karen has introduced me to Venezuelan food and some of it reminds me of my childhood in Congo. It’s a real exchange of culture.”
Eddie and Karen’s similar backgrounds have meant the British-Congolese comedian and the Venezuelan-born dancer share a bond far deeper than just student and dance teacher – one that will last long after the stardust of this series of Strictly settles.
“We’re both able to understand what being on a show like Strictly means for our families and our cultures. For us, it feels like we’ve already won,” says Eddie, who presents BBC Radio 1Xtra’s Afrobeats Chart Show and has performed stand-up at venues from London’s O2 Arena to New York’s
Radio City Music Hall. “We both came from foreign lands. I landed in London and Karen landed in New York around the same age as each other and we learnt a new language and culture.”
PERFECT PAIR
It’s not just upbringings Eddie, 40, and Karen, 41, have in common. With the pair sharing the same sense of humour, fun and laughter seems to fill every room they’re in – something that has no doubt helped raise Karen’s spirits amid reports she and husband Jordan Wyn-Jones have split, which, at the time of our photoshoot, neither of them had commented on.
“My first impression of Eddie was he’s hilarious,” says Karen. “He has such good energy and he’s very easy to get along with. I grew up in a house where if you didn’t like banter, you’d have to leave. Latinos don’t take anything too seriously, so when I throw banter at him and he throws it right back, it feels like I’m hanging out with my family.”
Eddie agrees, saying: “I feel like I’m enjoying life with my sibling. Karen has the total love, passion and patience that a sibling has – she can see when I’m tired and need to go and listen to some Afrobeats.
