Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev have revealed that the Ukrainian refugees they have taken into their home didn't know they were a famous couple when they arrived.

The Countdown star, 37, and her Strictly star husband, 43, wanted to help Sasha Borysenko, her eight-year-old son Mykyta, mother Luba and her aunt Gayla amid the conflict with Russia. 

Gayla arrived last June and recently the rest of her family joined her - and they all now use the nickname 'star' for Rachel after learning she is a celebrity.

Rachel told The Mirror: 'They didn't know who I was. They had to YouTube Pasha and I.' 

Sasha, 35, - who was a lawyer in Ukraine - added: 'We're so grateful. Rachel and her family are the best people. It feels like we are at home. 

'It was only when I came to the UK that Galya told us, 'They are stars'. That's our nickname for Rachel now. We call her a star.'

Rachel and Pacha - who is Russian and keen to show not everyone from his home country supports the war - gushed over how well Mykyta gets on with their two daughters. 

In November 2021 Rachel gave birth to their second daughter, Noa, following the birth of Maven in 2019. 

Rachel told BBC Breakfast last month of hosting them: 'It is so rewarding and it's working for us.

'Our little girls absolutely love having this little boy, it's like they've got an extra brother and he's got little sisters that he looks after.

'He's like an extension of his mother and auntie looking after them. He's had to grow up before his years, he's just turned eight years old. He's really a young little man because it's been forced upon him.

'But it's just a brilliant thing to be able to do and we're just getting on like one big family.'

Riley has previously said of her guests: 'At the moment we've got four Ukrainians living with us, they're working as cleaners, they're getting three buses across London for two hours to do a cleaning job and come back.

'Last week one of their clients bought them a bouquet of flowers and our lady, she got home and she just burst into tears, because it just meant so much to her, to have that gratitude and to have someone acknowledge the hard work and effort that she puts into making her life a little bit nicer.

'It can just be really simple things. It costs you nothing and it makes someone's day.'

Sasha was forced to flee her home in Enerhodar city, in the southeast, with Luba, 58, and Mykyta in March last year after the Russians invaded.

She said of the terrible time: 'The explosions started on March 4 when the Russians tried to capture the nuclear plant near our home.

'It was a horrible situation when Russian troops came into the city. They started shooting and kidnapping civilians. They were very aggressive.'

They then fled Ukraine and joined the Riley household after Rachel approached Refugees at Home offering to take people in. 

Sasha now works as a cleaner along with Galya and Luba, and hopes to return to Ukraine one day.