Stacey Dooley has revealed she feared "what on earth am I going to do?" when her boyfriend Kevin Clifton left home for a 10-month tour just two weeks after she gave birth to their daughter Minnie.
The former Strictly Come Dancing champion, who has since moved to Liverpool with her young family, was living in Lewisham, London at the time, when professional dancer Kevin embarked on a career move that took him away from her and their baby.
Recalling the worrying moment
Speaking on SpareRoom's Home Again podcast, Stacey shared: "When we [were] in Lewisham, that house in Brockley, I had the baby and then two weeks after, Kev went on a 10-month tour.
"And I remember him leaving and me just being like, 'what the f....?' I mean, 'what on earth am I going to do?' He was on tour for 10 months, he was doing a role that he'd always dreamt of doing, it was called Strictly Ballroom, so it was right for him to do it.
"He signed the contract prior to the baby coming, or whatever. But yeah, it is mad when you're both away for such long periods of time and then you come home and you're like, 'oh yeah, this is what we have to do, and also we have to run a house because we're adults'."
A cheeky jibe at Kevin
Stacey went on to aim a cheeky jibe at Kevin for not being very domesticated, adding: "He hates the idea of doing the big shop, he's like, 'oh, I can't bear it!'
"And I'm like, 'Kev, I don't love it, but we're adults and we have to buy food so we can eat. So that's just the gig, that's what we have to do I'm afraid'. And he's huffing and puffing down every aisle!"
Kevin previously opened up about how he felt "guilty" while on tour with Strictly Ballroom: The Musical, telling BBC's Morning Live about his mixed emotions.
Settled in Merseyside
Speaking about becoming a dad for the first time, the former Strictly pro said: "I'm obsessed, I'm absolutely obsessed. We've just completely fallen in love with her.
"I do feel a little bit guilty sometimes when I'm on the road. Like I miss them as they're obviously at home, but I do get a night's sleep."
The couple are now all settled in Merseyside with their daughter, and Stacey feels like she doesn't have any desires to move back home to London.
She explained while recording the podcast in London: "I can't imagine being back down here now. Isn't that funny? Like, you never know what's going to happen.
"And I'm actually quite sort of loose with plans, sort of long-term plans, but I can't imagine not living there at the moment, for the time being."
