Strictly Come Dancing 's Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec say the show saved their marriage as they were on the verge of splitting up before joining.
While the dreaded 'Curse' is said to have brought about the end of many relationships, the show pretty much had the opposite effect for Janette and Aljaz who say they were close to calling it a day before signing up as professionals.
The loved-up couple, who tied the knot in 2017, have been together since 2009 after meeting while starring together in Broadway show Burn The Floor.
They toured the world together, but when the show came to an end, Aljaz and Janette, who now hosts spin-off show It Takes Two, were faced with trying to make a long-distance relationship work.
Aljaz was all set to return to Slovenia, while Janette was preparing to fly back to Los Angeles, but in a twist of fate, they were both asked to audition for Strictly after a show producer watched them on Broadway.
Janette, 37, told the Sliding Doors podcast : "The thought of doing the whole long-distance thing made it hard for us. We were very scared about what was going to happen to our relationship."
Explaining how they got on the show, she went on: "They called me first and asked me to join the show, I didn’t scream but my face said it all. Within 5 minutes they called him [Aljaz] straight after.
"It was a dream come true. Getting Strictly Come Dancing was the most incredible thing, not just for my career but for my personal life and marriage with Aljaz because if it wasn’t for Strictly, I don’t know if we could have worked through the long-distance thing."
They joined the show together for the 11th series in 2013, four years before they walked down the aisle with many of their co-stars joining the celebrations.
Janette said back in April that she and Aljaz had fallen in love all over again during the lockdown.
And they've also talked openly about their desire to have kids.
Janette once said: "We always wanted to have a baby, but 2020 has definitely made me say to myself, 'You know what, Janette, it's never going to be the perfect time but it's always going to be the right time'.
"As a woman who's a dancer, my body is my job so it's scary to make that decision about the perfect time to start a family.
"I always thought there would be a perfect month and year, but what 2020 has made me realise is that perfect time is never going to come along."
