Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer’s estranged husband Jordan Wyn-Jones has insisted her engagement ring was left to him by his mother after she died – as his father claims he owns it.
Professional dancer Karen, 41, was given the £60 H. Samuel gold band with a single jewel when Jordan proposed before their wedding last year, but it emerged the couple had split last month.
Jordan’s late mother Anne owned the ring and his father Lee said it was returned to him after she died.
But Jordan told MailOnline: ‘It was my mum’s ring she left it to me when she passed away.’
He added: ‘I knew I wanted to give her my mum’s ring the second I met her.’
Split: Strictly Come Dancing star Karen Hauer has reportedly handed her engagement ring back to her ex-husband Jordan Wyn-Jones amid a riddle over who owns it
Commitment: The professional dancer, 41, was given the £60 H. Samuel gold band with a single jewel when Jordan proposed before their wedding last year
Jordan’s father Lee said this weekend the ring belonged to him before it it was given to his son’s ex Karen.
Lee told The Sun: ‘That’s it then — if she’s sent the ring back to him instead of me I’ll never see it again. I totally see where Karen is coming from. She was gifted the ring and it was hers as far as she knows.
‘I’m grateful she has returned it to Jordan, but it actually belongs to me.’
‘It’s not about the money. It is purely sentimental value. Some things money can’t buy.’
MailOnline has contacted Karen for comment.
It comes after her husband Jordan blamed Strictly for ruining the pair’s relationship.
The pair married last year, yet split after just 16 months after going through a tough time.
Jordan has revealed their relationship became a series of video calls due to her demanding Strictly schedule and tour.
Jewel: Jordan’s late mother Anne owned the ring and his father Lee said it was returned to him after she died (Karen pictured)
Fairytale: Their marriage had collapsed just a year after what Karen had then described as ‘a fairytale’ wedding
While the pair hoped for children, being a female Strictly professional makes decisions about having a baby much more difficult than for most other women. It goes without saying that it would be impossible to take part in the show while heavily pregnant.
But with Karen approaching 40, Jordan, 34, had his heart set on becoming a father.
‘Karen’s dedicated to her career, which she has worked really hard for,’ Jordan says. ‘She’s amazing and I admire her for it. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to marry her – because of how powerful she is.
‘But we wanted different things. There was a plan about having children but then there wasn’t a plan.
‘When we first met, we discussed it. You do say things like, ‘I want to have kids’. And she’d mentioned to me that she wanted to have kids with me. But in the interview, Karen said ‘kids aren’t the future’ – which did make me sad. I’ve always wanted to be a father.
‘I wouldn’t say it was a shock but I knew subconsciously in the back of my head… why would she want to have a child with me?
‘I’d become vacant in our relationship. I was loving and so caring for her but I was vacant because of the situation that we found ourselves in.’
While Jordan was Karen’s third husband – she was previously married to two dance partners, Matthew Hauer and Kevin Clifton, and then dated opera singer David Webb – Kevin had only been married once before.
