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THEY SET TONGUES WAGGING WITH THEIR RED-HOT ROUTINES ON STRICTLY – AND NO WONDER, WHEN RACHEL STEVENS HERSELF CONFESSES SHE’S IN LOVE WITH HER DANCE PARTNER…

BY Gemma Calvert

Their performances on Strictly have been so sizzling, we've had to avert our eyes at times! But it's not just the viewers who have been left hot under the collar by Rachel Stevens and Vincent Simone's raunchy rumbas and oh-so-passionate paso doble. The couple themselves admit it's been hard stopping the on-screen chemistry spilling over into real life.

And Rachel goes as far as to say there are three people in her relationship, which is unlikely to be music to the ears of her fiancé, property developer Alex Bourne, 31. Or Vincent's new girlfriend, an air hostess called Susan, for that matter.

Rachel, 30, breathlessly confesses: "I've totally fallen in love with Vincent!

"My God, I can definitely understand 100 per cent why so many ballroom partners are lovers. It's so physical and you spend so much time with the person.

"I feel I've got to know the real Vincent. He's sweet, gorgeous and yes, I love him."

It appears the feeling is mutual, with Vincent, 30, admitting things got so steamy in rehearsals that he was forced to take five.

"There are always embarrassing incidents," he says. "The worst was when we were rehearsing the rumba. We were looking at each other and things started to get very passionate. Rachel had that look in her eye. Something seemed to come over her. I had to walk away to cool off for a few minutes."

So is Alex worried? After all, it wouldn't be the first time a Strictly partnership has spelled the end of a relationship. In 2004, the spark between newsreader Natasha Kaplinksy, 36, and ladies' man Brendan Cole, 32, led to rumours of an affair – and resulted in his partner of nine years, fellow dancer Camilla Dallerup, dumping him. And last year Vincent's dance partner and girlfriend of 11 years, Flavia Cacace, 28, waltzed off with her celeb pupil, actor Matt di Angelo, 21.

But Rachel insists Alex has taken her and Vincent's partnership with good humour, and gets on well with his Italian rival.

"Alex and Vincent have become good friends – they've bonded," says Rachel. "I don't mind telling Alex how I feel about Vincent – I tell Alex everything. When you're with a guy you trust, there are no secrets.

"If the tables were turned, however, and Alex was me, I'd feel jealous – but Vincent and I are really good friends and Alex gets that. He seems to handle it OK."

Vincent isn't so sure. He told us: "Rachel says Alex isn't jealous but I disagree. It would be wrong if he wasn't. But he knows he can't let on how he feels because that would affect Rachel's performance."

Hmm… perhaps that's the reason Alex kept popping down to the pair's training sessions whenever he had a spare moment?

Surely it's off-putting getting it on with another guy in front of your fiancé?

Rachel laughs: "Weirdly, it's not! I had to be connected physically and mentally with Vincent, and at first, it was difficult as a woman to have that intimacy with another guy. But Alex got the whole concept of what Vincent and I were doing. He said if people believed there was something going on with us then we'd done our job right.

"Plus, Vincent and I are so similar – we really understand each other. We've got to the point where if he p***es me off there's no politeness, I can tell him exactly how I feel!"

It's this connection which she credits for transforming her into the hot temptress who has kept viewers mesmerised, earning her the first four 10s of this series and comparisons with last year's winner Alesha Dixon.

And like Alesha, she hopes her Strictly stint will reignite her career. Rachel shot to fame when she was plucked from obscurity to join S Club 7 at the age of 19. Then, when the band split in 2003, she got a £1.5million solo deal. But her career faltered two years later, after she and her then fiancé, actor Jeremy Edwards, 37, broke up, and she moved to America in a failed bid to crack Hollywood.

There, she briefly dated actor Stephen Dorff, 35, before she and childhood sweetheart Alex got back in touch. After 18 months of jetting between LA and Britain, she returned home, and Alex proposed in Puglia, Italy, last summer. They plan to marry next year – and she insists her relationship with Vincent has only strengthened her feelings for Alex.

"I'm so lucky to have Alex," she says. "He's been a massive support during Strictly. Working so hard with Vincent has made me realise all the more what I've got at home."

And it seems the only place Alex needs to worry about being outdone by Vincent is on the dance floor.

Rachel says: "I'm so used to dancing with Vincent because he's little, but Alex is tall. So the thought of me dancing with Alex now has me in fits of laughter!"

PHOTOGRAPHY: FAMOUS, WIRE IMAGE, PLANET PHOTOS