Stacey Dooley Husband: Is She Married to Kevin Clifton?

Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton have been one of Strictly Come Dancing’s most talked-about couples since their relationship became public in 2019. Their story began on the dance floor, developed away from the cameras and eventually brought them into a very different chapter as parents to their daughter Minnie.

Despite frequent searches for “Stacey Dooley husband,” Kevin Clifton is not currently her husband. The pair remain long-term partners, and recent reporting in 2026 continues to describe Kevin as Stacey’s partner rather than her spouse.

Marriage has never appeared to be Stacey’s biggest priority. She has spoken openly about feeling secure in her relationship without needing a wedding and has previously joked about Kevin’s history of marriage. Their relationship today appears centered far more on family, parenthood and their careers than on changing their legal status.

Who Is Stacey Dooley’s Partner?

Stacey Dooley’s long-term partner is Kevin Clifton, the professional dancer and stage performer best known for his years on Strictly Come Dancing.

Kevin joined Strictly as a professional dancer in 2013 and became one of the programme’s most successful and recognisable professionals. He reached several finals before finally winning the Glitterball Trophy in 2018.

The celebrity partner standing beside him when he won was Stacey.

At the beginning of that series, however, there was no public romance between them. Stacey had joined Strictly as a documentary presenter learning how to dance, while Kevin was there as her professional partner.

Their chemistry helped them progress through the competition and ultimately win the series.

Nobody watching that final could have known that their partnership would eventually continue far beyond the dance floor.

Stacey and Kevin Met on Strictly

Stacey and Kevin first met when they were paired together for the 2018 series of Strictly Come Dancing.

Their professional partnership quickly became successful.

Week after week, the pair improved their scores and developed enough support from viewers to reach the final. They eventually won the competition, beating the other finalists to take home the Glitterball Trophy.

At the time, Stacey was in a long-term relationship with personal trainer Sam Tucknott.

That relationship later ended.

Stacey and Kevin subsequently became romantically involved, with their relationship publicly confirmed in 2019. Reporting since then has consistently placed the beginning of their relationship after their Strictly experience, although there was considerable media attention around the timing.

Rather than constantly discussing the beginning of the romance, Stacey and Kevin gradually moved forward with their relationship.

What started as a television partnership became a serious long-term relationship.

Why Haven’t Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton Married?

Marriage has come up repeatedly in interviews with Stacey.

Her answer has generally remained similar: she does not consider marriage essential to proving that a relationship is serious.

In 2023, she explained that getting married had never been something she strongly dreamed about.

She also jokingly referenced Kevin’s previous marriages while discussing why she was not rushing towards a wedding. More importantly, Stacey said she did not believe marriage automatically provides greater stability in a relationship.

For her, building a family and having a supportive partner appeared more meaningful than holding a wedding ceremony.

That view actually goes back several years.

Even before she became a mother, Stacey said she was more interested in starting a family than getting married.

Her position has therefore been fairly consistent rather than something she decided only recently.

As of September 2026, there has been no confirmed marriage announcement from the couple.

Kevin Clifton Was Married Before

Kevin had already experienced marriage before beginning his relationship with Stacey.

He has been married three times previously, including to fellow Strictly professional Karen Hauer.

Kevin and Karen married in 2015 after years together professionally and personally. They announced in 2018 that they were no longer romantically together.

Kevin later met Stacey during that year’s Strictly series.

His previous experience with marriage is something Stacey has referenced with humour rather than apparent resentment.

She has joked that Kevin has already gone down the wedding route several times, while making clear that marriage simply is not something she personally considers necessary.

That has not stopped fans from wondering if they could eventually change their minds.

For now, though, they remain partners.

They Welcomed Daughter Minnie

The most significant change in Stacey and Kevin’s relationship came when they became parents.

Stacey announced in August 2022 that she was pregnant with their first child.

Their daughter, Minnie, arrived in January 2023. The couple announced her birth with affectionate messages celebrating becoming parents for the first time.

Motherhood changed Stacey’s life considerably.

She had spent years travelling for documentaries, often entering difficult or unpredictable environments around the world. Suddenly, much of her attention shifted toward caring for a newborn while trying to continue the career she had spent years building.

Stacey has since spoken very openly about the realities of motherhood.

She has admitted she underestimated how demanding parenting could be before experiencing it herself.

The exhaustion, interrupted sleep and emotional intensity came as a surprise, even though she was delighted to become a mother.

Kevin has been central to helping her navigate that transition.

Stacey Says Kevin Changed After They Became Parents

Becoming parents appears to have deepened Stacey and Kevin’s relationship.

Stacey has previously explained that she loved Kevin before Minnie arrived, but parenthood introduced a different kind of affection and appreciation.

Raising a child means seeing a partner differently.

There are overnight wake-ups, changing routines and responsibilities that do not stop because either parent is tired or working.

For a couple whose professional lives can involve lengthy periods away from home, that creates additional challenges.

Stacey has made clear that Kevin’s support has been extremely important.

She has also talked about being surprised by how vulnerable becoming a mother made her feel after spending much of her career thinking of herself as fiercely independent.

Their relationship moved from the excitement of Strictly to the much less glamorous reality of raising a young child together.

They Protect Minnie’s Privacy

Although both Stacey and Kevin are public figures, they have tried to create boundaries around their daughter.

Stacey has explained that she does not feel comfortable fully exposing Minnie on social media while she is too young to decide for herself.

She has acknowledged the temptation every proud parent feels to share photographs, but she has also questioned whether a small child can genuinely consent to having her image made public.

That approach fits Stacey’s broader attitude to celebrity.

She is famous, but she does not appear interested in making every detail of family life public.

Fans may hear stories about Minnie and motherhood, but the couple have generally tried to protect some parts of their daughter’s childhood.

Stacey Once Joked About Being a “Trad Wife”

Stacey’s views on relationships have also appeared in her documentary work.

While filming Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, she spent time exploring families with traditional household structures, including women who choose to focus entirely on their husbands, homes and children.

The subject led Stacey to think about her own relationship.

She joked that she would be terrible at becoming a traditional stay-at-home wife.

Kevin joined in with the humour, saying that he would not want Stacey to become a “trad wife” either.

Behind the jokes was a serious point.

Stacey has always placed considerable importance on financial and professional independence.

She has said she would be uncomfortable becoming completely dependent on a man because independence gives a person choices if circumstances change.

That philosophy helps explain why her career has remained important even after becoming a mother.

Kevin Supports Stacey’s Career

Kevin has regularly shown support for Stacey’s professional work.

Her career covers subjects very different from his dancing background.

Stacey became known through documentaries dealing with difficult social issues before expanding into programmes such as Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over and other television projects.

She has also moved into acting.

Kevin, meanwhile, left Strictly and continued performing in theatre productions.

Their careers unexpectedly crossed again in 2025 when the couple joined the touring production of 2:22 A Ghost Story.

It marked their first major professional project together since Strictly. Stacey and Kevin played married characters in the production, an amusing contrast considering that they remain unmarried in real life.

They also planned the tour around family life, with Minnie travelling with them.

Working Together Again Was Very Different

By the time Stacey and Kevin returned to working together, their relationship looked nothing like it had during Strictly.

In 2018, they were a television presenter and professional dancer still getting to know one another.

Years later, they were partners and parents.

Kevin noted that they now knew each other properly as people, making their theatre collaboration an entirely different experience from Strictly.

The production gave them a rare opportunity to combine work and family instead of one parent repeatedly travelling away from home.

For two people with careers that involve touring and filming, that mattered.

Stacey and Kevin Have Faced Difficult Moments Too

Their family story has not been entirely straightforward.

Stacey revealed publicly that she experienced an ectopic pregnancy while she and Kevin were hoping to expand their family.

The pregnancy required emergency surgery after internal bleeding.

She initially found the experience extremely difficult to discuss and later spoke about it as part of wider conversations about fertility and different paths to building a family.

Stacey has also said that the experience forced her to think about the different options available to people who want more children.

She and Kevin already have Minnie, and Stacey has previously spoken about being open to having a bigger family.

Their experience added a much more personal dimension to those conversations.

Are Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton Still Together?

Yes. Current public reporting continues to describe Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton as a couple.

In January 2026, Stacey was still referring publicly to life with Kevin while discussing their family experiences, and reporting later in 2026 continued to describe him as her partner.

There has been no reliable announcement that they have separated.

There has also been no confirmed announcement that they have married.

That makes “partner” or “boyfriend” more accurate than “husband” when describing Kevin today.

Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton Today

Stacey Dooley and Kevin Clifton have now been part of each other’s lives for considerably longer than the few months viewers watched them dance together on Strictly.

They met in 2018, became a couple in 2019 and welcomed Minnie in 2023.

Their lives now involve balancing television, theatre, touring and parenthood while protecting parts of their private world.

For anyone searching “Stacey Dooley husband,” the key fact is simple: Stacey is not currently known to be married.

Kevin Clifton is her long-term partner and the father of her daughter.

Their relationship has moved far beyond the Strictly romance that first attracted attention. They have built a home, become parents, returned to working together and supported each other through difficult personal experiences.

A wedding may eventually happen, or it may never become part of their plans.

Stacey has repeatedly made clear that she does not see marriage as the thing that determines whether a relationship is committed.

For her and Kevin, family life appears to have become the much bigger commitment.