'Dancing' champ Helio Castroneves confirms fiancee relationship over

Dancing with the Stars fifth-season celebrity champ Helio Castroneves has confirmed he and Aliette Vazquez, his now former fiancee, have called it quits on their romantic relationship.


"I can confirm that Aliette Vazquez and I have called off our engagement and are no longer together," Castroneves said in a Wednesday statement to People.  "At this time I would prefer to keep my private life private."

The 32-year-old Brazilian IndyCar Series racer broke the news only hours after he claimed the fifth-season mirror ball trophy with professional partner Julianne Hough.

Castroneves proposed to Vazquez -- a Cuban fashion designer -- last Thanksgiving, however the two decided to delay their wedding engagement when he was cast as a Dancing with the Stars celebrity participant. 

"We postponed it for a little bit until next year," Castroneves told Entertainment Tonight last month.  "Everything is happening so quick.  The [IndyCar Series] championship is over, the dancing started, and basically, I was like, 'Ali, let's take it easy.  Otherwise, we will be divorced before we get married!'"

Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough show off their new Dancing with the Stars mirror ball trophies after their Tuesday night victory (Photo credit ABC/Carol Kaelson)

At the time, Castroneves said the ceremony would "hopefully" occur in January, however that apparently won't be the case.

Castroneves' wedding delay announcement came five months after Hough canceled her August 2007 wedding to former dancer Zach Wilson.

While Hough said the wedding was postponed due to her busy rehearsal schedule with her fourth-season partner Apolo Anton Ohno -- whom she also won the mirror ball trophy with -- the wedding cancellation fueled speculation that Hough and the two-time Olympic gold medalist speed skater were a romantic item. 

Wilson later told TV Guide that he and Hough still planned to wed and hadn't "fallen away from each other at all" and Ohno subsequently denied there was any romance.

Most recently, Hough has been romantically linked to HBO's Entourage star Kevin Connolly, however although Connelly has admitted he's "actively pursuing" her, she's maintained they are "just friends." Her denials of a romance with Connolly haven't made any mention of a still-ongoing relationship with Wilson.






About The Author: Christopher Rocchio