‘Strictly curse’ strikes again as Olympic swimmer Tom Dean and girlfriend split

The Team GB star became the first celebrity to leave this year’s TV dance competition where he was paired with Nadiya Bychkova

The “Strictly curse” has appeared to claim another relationship after it emerged Olympic swimmer Tom Dean and his girlfriend have split up.
The Team GB star, 24, became the first celebrity to leave this year’s TV dance competition, in which he had been paired with Nadiya Bychkova, the Ukrainian professional dancer.
However, he reportedly broke off his year-long relationship with Charlotte Phillips just two weeks into the current series.
The Strictly curse denotes the potential romances between taken celebrity contestants on the show and their professional partners.
One of the most famous examples occurred in 2018, when comedian Seann Walsh was pictured kissing his professional partner Katya Jones.
Walsh and his partner promptly split, while Jones apologised for “any offence or hurt I may have caused”. She and Walsh were voted off the show a few weeks after the incident and Jones split from her husband 10 months on.
The Olympic swimmer and Ms Phillips, who works as a communications executive for News UK, are said to have parted ways amicably and an insider told the Mail that the pair had “drifted apart” before the show.
They told the newspaper: “Like in so many breakups, Tom and Lottie’s year-long relationship had naturally run its course and it has nothing to do with Strictly, it just happened to be in the first two weeks that they decided to part ways.
“They are still good friends and it’s all amicable between them.”
Dean, who is a three-time Olympic champion, said he felt “genuinely shocked” and “gutted” when he and his dance partner received the fewest number of public votes for the performance.
While the pair have been pictured attending events together, including last month’s Pride of Britain Awards, the insider insisted that Ms Bychkova played no part in the break-up.
The Ukrainian dancer, 35, ended her relationship with co-star Kai Widdrington, 29, earlier this summer.
She was most recently pictured reuniting with Dean on Wednesday evening at the tenth anniversary party for Bocconcino in London.
It comes after she told The Mirror that she is no longer friends with her ex partner Widdrington.
Speaking to the newspaper at the Pride of Britain Awards earlier this week, she said: “We work together but we are not friends and that’s okay.
“One thing I can tell you is that when you see me dancing with him it will be amazing because I’m a professional.”
Meanwhile, Dean last shared a picture of Ms Phillips on his social media in August, when the pair photographed themselves in an office lift. He had previously shared an insight into their relationship through holiday pictures and at parties.
The Olympic champion, who was awarded an MBE in the New Years Honours in 2022 for services to swimming, attended a lunch at The Waterside Inn with Ms Bychkova last week.
She posted pictures on her Instagram of the meal which Dean commented on, writing: “What an afternoon. Best food and best company.”
Ms Bychkova has previously been paired on Strictly with the singer Matt Goss in 2022 and the former BBC Breakfast host Dan Walker the year before.
The Telegraph has contacted Dean’s representatives for comment.