Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton are secretly dating after their Strictly Come Dancing triumph, her ex boyfriend has revealed.
The news comes just weeks after Stacey split from long-term Strictly curse strikes again as Stacey Dooley SPLITS from long-term boyfriend after three years, who supported her throughout the competion.
Lifting the lid on Stacey and Kevin's undercover romance, Sam claims to have rumbled what was going on between the pair when he found incriminating text messages on his girlfriend's phone.
Personal trainer Sam, 30, fired: “The blame is with Kevin. He’s an absolute rat.
"I was getting my stuff to leave. Stacey was in the loo.
“Her phone went and it was Kevin Clifton — ‘I love you’ with a red love heart," Sam told The Sun.
"I grabbed the phone and confronted her. She said she’d tell me everything I needed to know," said Sam.
He then claims that later that day - after he'd moved out of their shared Brighton flat - Stacey messaged to confess that she'd fallen for Kevin.
But the documentary maker insisted things hadn't started up with the dance pro until her relationship with Sam was over.
A devastated Sam said he replied back to say he 'hated' what his girlfriend of five years had done to him.
While Stacey came clean days after their relationship ending, Sam claims to have noticed several 'red flags' about her friendship with Kevin as she competed on the BBC dance show.
Sam claims Kevin would send Stacey gushing text messages but remained 'sulky'' and 'distant' around him.
Then following an explosive Boxing Day row, Sam discovered a receipt for a cupcake deliver to Glasgow where Kevin was working.
When news of Sam and Stacey's split was announced in March, the break up had been put down to conflicting schedules, though there continuing growing rumours Stacey had fallen for her former Strictly mentor.
Viewers of the BBC dance series had noted documentary-maker Stacey and ballroom champ Kevin's undeniable chemistry - with their successful partnership ending in them lifting the glitterball trophy together in December.
It had been alleged during Stacey's time in the competition that her boyfriend Sam was becoming increasingly jealous of her close relationship with Kevin, who split from his wife Karen Clifton months before.
Though Stacey, 31, hit out at the speculation in an interview with The Times, insisting that her partnership with Grimsby-born Kevin, 36, was purely platonic.
"The truth is Kevin and I are brilliant friends and he’ll be my pal for life,” she told The Times Magazine in Feburary. “And Sam was probably the most supportive he has ever been. When I first got the gig he was just so made up.
"He was dancing around our living room. And every week he’d say, ‘Listen to Kevin. Kevin knows best," Stacey added. “He was a dream.”
But a source close to the couple said that Sam had been 'quite vocal' about Stacey's close partnership with Kevin.
Stars who fell victim to Strictly's career 'curse' - and those who beat it
Strictly curse strikes again as Stacey Dooley SPLITS from long-term boyfriend after three years
"[He] was really paranoid that they were going to split because of the show,” the insider told The Sun.
The rumours were confirmed true when Stacey became the fourteenth celebrity to break-up with her partner after appearing on the popular BBC dance show.
Since the first series in 2004, Strictly has become as much known for its multitude of relationship scandals as its dance routines.
Among the couples that didn't survive the show include Louise and Jamie Redknapp, Georgia May Foote and Giovanni Pernice and Countdown's Rachel Riley and her husband.
However, there have been some success stories over the years.
Gemma Atkinson and Gorka Marquez announced this year they are expecting a baby together after meeting on the show.
While former dancer Kristina Rihanoff shares a baby with ex rugby star Ben Cohen after they were introduced on the dancefloor.
