Cash-strapped former Strictly star Ben Cohen and fiancée Kristina Rihanoff have placed their £1.75 million home on the market, MailOnline can reveal.
The five-bedroom home in Sywell, Northamptonshire, which was bought in 2016, was put up for sale on Thursday just weeks after the former rugby star laid their financial woes bare in court.
Cohen, 45, pleaded poverty, admitting he was ‘fighting to save his relationship and home’ after professional dancer Kristina, 46, was caught driving without insurance.
She was slapped with six points on her licence but faced a ban for totting up 12 penalty points after being caught behind the wheel of her £30,000 Audi Q3 in Northampton on April 4.
Her partner, who admitted bungling the couple’s car insurance policies, was dragged to court to support her failed appeal against the motoring conviction.
Since then, the true extent of the couple debts and failing business ventures has been revealed.
Cohen (right) pleaded poverty, admitting he was ‘fighting to save his relationship and home’ after professional dancer Kristina (left) was caught driving without insurance
The five-bedroom home in Sywell, Northamptonshire (pictured) was bought in 2016 and was put up for sale on Thursday, September 19
The home has a large kitchen area with granite worktops, recessed lighting and a large central island unit, as well as an integrated wine fridge, wine racks and breakfast bar area
The pair, who share an eight-year-old daughter Melina, now face more potential legal battles after failing to submit accounts for a yoga studio which plunged almost £500,000 into the red.
The family home, where the couple were still living in a few weeks ago, is sat on a plot of 1.73acres of land and has been put for sale on RightMove for £1,750,000.
It is described as a ‘superb family home offering spacious and versatile living accommodation’ kitted out with an ‘impressive kitchen breakfast/family living area’.
The sale of the house appears to be a bid to salvage some of their financial difficulties after the pair set up several businesses together after falling for each other while paired up on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013.
Their money troubles started to rear its head following the Covid pandemic in 2020, which impacted their fitness and wellbeing studio called Soo Yoga in Northampton.
The business struggled to make money during the pandemic, which Mr Cohen acknowledged while giving his testimony at Northampton Crown Court.
‘I get up every day and I fight not to lose everything – to lose my cars and my house and my relationship. I’m so overdrawn,’ he said.
When questioned on how this was impacting his relationship he added: ‘We’re still living together. We’re in it financially.
‘We’re in business together so the problem is that we opened the business before Covid and we got the worst severities of it and in all honestly this is just another problem for me to deal with.
‘I’ve got credit cards that are overdrawn. I’m overdrawn in both accounts. We have got a business debt because of Covid. It’s just another problem.’
The family home, where the couple were still living in a few weeks ago, is sat on a plot of 1.73acres of land and has been put for sale on RightMove for £1,750,000
It is described as a ‘superb family home offering spacious and versatile living accommodation’ kitted out with an ‘impressive kitchen breakfast/family living area’
One of the five bedrooms in Cohen and Rihanoff’s home
The property has a spacious sitting room with double doors providing access to the property’s gardens and grounds
A main hallway with impressive central staircase rising to a galleried area affords access to the main living areas
Another living area in the house with a fitted media cabinet, display shelving, cupboards and drawers
A former garage in the property has been adapted for use as a gym/studio
Companies House records show that the Soo Yoga Group Ltd was £488,470 in the red in its last submitted set of accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2022.
Accounts for the year ending on July 31, 2023, were due to be filed by April 30 this year – but have still not been submitted.
Company directors can be personally fined and left with a criminal record for not filing accounts on time, which is usually nine months after the end of their firm’s financial year.
Soo Yoga Group was set up by Kristina and Cohen in June 2017, but the professional dancer stepped down as a director and transferred her 50 per cent shareholding to her finance in September 2022.
The studio’s website says it offers a range of ‘holistic’ classes including yoga, pilates, dance, cycling, spin, Hiit and meditation for a membership of £690 a year, or a pay-as-you-go rate of ten classes for £120.
Its debts include an outstanding £190,000 loan made to Soo Yoga Group by a company called Bespoke Ballroom Ltd which is 50 per cent owned by Russian-born Kristina who is listed as an American citizen.
The company was listed to be compulsorily struck off on December 27, 2022, but the action was suspended nine days later and discontinued on April 28, 2023.
Records also reveal that a food services company called Soo Greens Ltd which is 100 per cent owned by Soo Yoga Group Ltd was effectively £6,633 in the red, taking into account future liabilities, in its last accounts for the period ending on July 31, 2020.
The company’s accounts for the year ending in July 2021 have still not been filed and are now nearly 29 months overdue.
Another company called Soo Purple Mountain Ltd which is also owned by the Soo Yoga Group, was set up in December 2021 and dissolved by a voluntary strike off in February this year without ever filing accounts.
A fourth company called Soo Group Ltd which was half owned by Cohen and half owned by three other people was also incorporated and voluntarily struck off on the same dates.
The sale of the house appears to be a bid to salvage some of their financial difficulties after the pair set up several businesses together after falling for each other while paired up on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013
There are four double bedrooms all with en suite bath/shower rooms
The extensive rear gardens and grounds form an attractive setting to the property
The main bedroom has an en suite bathroom with twin wash hand basins, bath, shower cubicle and W.C
On the first floor there are four double bedrooms which all have fitted wardrobes
One of the living rooms in the Cohen and Rihanoff house that is now on the market
Former rugby star Ben fell in love with the Russian dancer after they were partnered up on the 11th series of Strictly in 2013, despite him being married at the time (pictured on the show)
A fifth company called Yoga Wellbeing which is 100 percent owned by Rihanoff was £5,041 in the red, taking into account future liabilities, at the end of July 2020. Its accounts are also nearly 29 months overdue, according to Companies House records.
The couple’s business struggles only came to light after Cohen laid the issues bare in court, while admitting he had not renewed his partner’s car insurance details.
He told the court that he had been abroad in March when he received a text message from insurance company Dial Direct telling him they were going to cancel his insurance unless he sent them his no claims details.
He said he did not have a no claims bonus so did not send any details to the company and did not respond to the text. Consequently the insurance policy was cancelled on March 7.
Kristina was then stopped driving uninsured in Northampton town centre on April 4 after police noticed she had no insurance.
When officers phoned Mr Cohen, he immediately tried to take out another policy with the same company.
He told the court: ‘I 100 per cent did not know that policy would be cancelled because the no claims information they’d been asking for wasn’t relevant to me.’
Cohen added: ‘I didn’t know until I got that call from Kristina then I was (saying), ‘What are you on about?’ He also admitted he had not asked Kristina about the dates of her previous speeding offences before taking out the policy.
Kristina sobbed throughout the hearing and had to leave the courtroom holding her hands over her mouth because she felt sick. She spent the rest of the hearing wrapped in a white blanket holding a tissue to her eyes.
The dancer told the court she needed to drive to judge ballroom competitions across the country, which earned her £2,000-a-month, and to take her children to school.
During the appeal hearing earlier this month, Ben admitted to overlooking a text message from his insurance company prior to the incident, as her partner sobbed throughout the hearing
The pair fell for each other after they were partnered up on the 11th series of Strictly in 2013
The extensive rear gardens and grounds form an attractive setting to the property
The house, gardens and grounds sit on a total plot of around 1.73 acres and include woodland and wild garden areas
The house has a total of five bathrooms
The family home was originally conceived in 2010 and later improved (pictured: one of the five bedrooms)
The living accommodation arranged over two floors extending to in excess of 5,000 sq ft.
There is a a separate dining room together with access to a guest bedroom suite with en suite toilet (pictured)
Recorder Louise Cox rejected her appeal, but told Kristina she had ‘every sympathy’ with her.
She said: ‘We find you had an honest belief you were insured but don’t accept that belief was reasonable grounds to account for your lack of insurance.’ The judge said that Kristina should have made sure she was insured before driving, and ordered her to pay £357 in appeal costs.
Kristina left Strictly in 2015 after falling pregnant with Cohen’s daughter, now eight.
Earlier last year, Cohen said his relationship with Kristina had been ‘strengthened’ by ‘difficult times in business’ ahead of their wedding.
He told HELLO! magazine: ‘Over the last nine years we’ve been through the wringer. To support each other through difficult times in business is the ultimate test in a relationship.
‘I’ve watched her flourish, from her becoming a mum to growing as a businesswoman, and it has strengthened our bond.’
They told the magazine that they plan to make the big day a family affair with their daughter and Ben’s twin daughters, both 15, from his marriage to first wife Abby Blayney Cohen, serving as bridesmaids.