She first cha-cha-cha’d onto our screens as a dazzling blonde bombshell back in 2008, when she wowed us on the Strictly Come Dancing dance floor. But while Kristina Rihanoff still looks every inch as glamorous, she tells Closer that late last year, she began to feel low about her appearance.
“Looking at my old pictures on Strictly Come Dancing made me feel a little down,” she admits. “When I look back, I feel a bit insecure – I know we’re 10 years on and that I can’t really compare myself, but ageing can be difficult to accept. It wasn’t that I want to look like I did in my 30s, but I do want to look good for my age.”
Kristina turned 46 in September, and readily admits that her hormones have been “playing up”. During the perimenopause, we lose around 30 per cent of our oestrogen, which accelerates the ageing process and often leads to sagging skin – something she felt she’d started to experience.
“Last year, blood tests showed my cortisol levels were all over the place, which I was told is a common symptom of the perimenopause,” says Kristina, who has daughter Mila, seven, with rugby hunk Ben Cohen. “I still sleep OK, but I can quite clearly see the change in my face. It came to a point when I didn’t want to put make-up on my eyes, because the skin above my eyelids looked like it was sagging.
“I also felt conscious of my teeth, because I started grinding them at night in lockdown, due to stress. Grinding them affected their edges and I felt they looked uneven, which contributed to my insecurities.”
Reluctant to resort to fillers or surgery, Kristina decided to opt for “a little makeover” instead. On a friend’s recommendation, she reached out to The Door W4, a London-based health, wellness and aesthetics space, where Dr Julia Coelho suggested a step-by-step treatment plan.
Kristina kicked things off in January, with AgeJET Plasma Therapy, a new anti-ageing treatment that involves having heat delivered deep into the skin. It creates micro-injuries, which triggers the body’s healing process and stimulates collagen production.
“I had three sessions, with three or four weeks in between,” she says. “After each one the top layer of skin peeled off gradually, but it wasn’t painful and I could soon see that it had really resurfaced and tightened my skin. It also lifted my upper eye area – I no longer get irritated by my sagging eyelids, because they don’t look as droopy! I now enjoy putting on make-up again.”
Kristina then had two sessions of Profhilo, a celebrity favourite that’s billed as the key to a plump, radiant complexion. It involves having drops of hyaluronic acid injected into the skin, where they spread, stimulating collagen production.
“Dr Julia injected the hyaluronic acid around my nose, jawline and cheekbones,” says Kristina. “It really plumped my skin and helped with fine lines and wrinkles. It tightened my jawline too and gave my face a more youthful shape.”
Lastly, Kristina had Botox around her eye area and brows, and a treatment called dental bonding, which involves attaching a colour-matched composite to the teeth, to even up the smile. “People might not have noticed my teeth were uneven, but it really bugged me,” explains Kristina. “The bonding gave me more confidence with my smile and the treatments as a whole have definitely boosted my self-esteem.”
And Kristina is thrilled with the results. She smiles, “Recently, a few people have said, ‘I didn’t realise you were 46, I thought you were younger’. They’ve also complimented me on my skin, which feels great. Crying over ageing is a waste of time and energy, but it’s good to know there are things you can do to boost your confidence. It’s also great to know there are alternatives to surgery – I don’t want to go under the knife, but never say never. In 10 years, it might be different!”
Of course, Kristina’s healthy lifestyle and plant-based diet also keep her in great shape. She’s a size 10, thanks to teaching yoga and dance every day, and swears by Jeunvie collagen powder. “It’s amazing and it definitely makes a difference to my skin,” she adds. “Because of all my classes, I do get muscle and joint pain, but this sorts it out.”
Kristina and Ben, 45, got engaged in 2022, and have since revealed they are considering tying the knot in either Tuscany or Oxfordshire. So, what does Ben think of his bride-to-be’s makeover?
“After my AgeJET treatment and the dental bonding, he said, ‘There’s something different about you, you look really good’,” she recalls. Laughing, she adds, “He doesn't really know what I’ve had done though. I’d tell him I’d had a peel if I came home looking red, but I don’t go into the details. I like seeing if he’ll notice – you don’t have to tell all your secrets!”
Kristina had her makeover at The Door W4 (thedoorw4.co.uk)