Strictly lovebirds Nadiya Bychkova and Kai Widdrington have revealed how they kept their romance secret for months.

The couple confirmed they were dating last April, but enjoyed the start of their relationship away from the spotlight -  thanks to clever decoys. 

And their romance appears to be going from strength-to-strength, with Kai declaring they 'want to be together for life' when asked if fans can expect an engagement in the future. 

The professional dancers say their relationship first started when Kai, 27, plucked up the courage to ask Nadiya, 33, out for dinner after weeks of texting and phone calls.  

But the pair were determined to keep their blossoming romance to themselves, going out in baseball caps or disguises so they wouldn't be recognised. 

Looking back at the start of their romance, Kai tells The Sun: 'We knew that it would come out and that it would be a big thing, so we kept it private for as long as we could, which was both annoying and exciting at the same time.

'It was one of those things. We would go somewhere and only we knew we were there. Sometimes we would go out in disguise, or baseball caps pulled down low, and we knew this period of time was only going to last a little bit.' 

And when asked if an engagement could be on the cards, he says coyly: 'Listen, what can I say . . . we are very happy together and we don’t want this to end. Of course we want to be together for life, so we will see where it goes.' 

The professional dancer says while they didn't have to tell HR they were pursuing a relationship, they did and the BBC were 'totally fine with it'.   

Their romance came as a bit of a surprise to Strictly viewers as the 2021 series was rife with speculation Kai was dating his celebrity partner AJ Odudu, while Nadiya was yet to announce the end of her engagement to Matija Škarabot. 

The blonde beauty shares daughter Mila, six, with the Slovenian footballer. 

Addressing the romance rumours with AJ, Kai said people writing about chemistry between himself and his celebrity partner on the dancefloor 'means I have done a good job'. 

He adds 'there was never anything there', and that 'people will think what they want to think'. 

It comes after Nadiya held back tears as she discussed introducing daughter Mila to Kai for the first time. 

The Ukrainian beauty said her daughter 'adores' the dancer and gushed about how 'brilliant' he is with the six-year-old.

Speaking on Friday's Loose Women she said: 'It took some time because it wasn't easy, you protect your child as much as you can, but he is brilliant'.

'It took some time but he proved himself in all the possible ways and Mila absolutely adores him!'