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NEIL Jones is part of the professional line-up for Strictly Come Dancing 2024, where he’ll be hoping to be paired up with a celeb partner having missed out the last few years.
Here’s everything you need to know about the dancer, his marriage to Katya Jones and subsequent relationships.
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Who is Neil Jones?
Neil Jones is a professional ballroom dancer, best known for his appearances on Strictly Come Dancing, which he first appeared on in 2016.
But he had to wait to be part of the competition, as it wasn’t until 2019 that he was paired with ex-footballer Alex Scott.
After going without a celeb partner once again in 2020, Neil failed to find his feet in the 2021 series, as he and Nina Wadia were eliminated in the second week.
And since that early exit, Neil missed out on celebs to share the dance floor with in the following years — but he’ll have his fingers crossed that 2024 will be his year.
Neil is a British citizen, but was born in Munster, Germany.
He started his dancing career at a local ballet school at the tender age of three.
During the course of his competitive career, Neil has represented Finland, Holland and the UK.
He has won numerous titles including UK, British, Dutch, European and World Latin Champion.
Upon signing up to BBC’s Strictly in 2016, he said: “As a British dancer I have grown up watching this amazing show, it is a massive honour…
“I am feeling pumped and excited to be part of the Strictly family.”
Who is Neil Jones dating?
Neil is in a relationship with Love Island star Chyna Mills.
The pair confirmed their relationship on a romantic trip to Paris in August 2022.
This is Neil’s first serious relationship since he split from South American dancer Luisa Eussein 2020.
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In April 2023, the dancer revealed that he and Chyna were engaged and expecting their first child together.
Neil popped the question while on holiday with the Love Island star in Bali.
He told told Hello!: “I’d already planned to ask Chyna to marry me before we knew she was pregnant. Then we found out and I was like: ‘Oh, this is brilliant, everything is coming together’.”
The couple welcomed their firstborn in October 2023 and named the baby girl Havana after the Cuban Capital, saying they chose the name as it is both multicultural and the home of dance.
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Why did Neil Jones split from wife Katya Jones?
On August 18, 2019 it was revealed that Neil and his wife Katya Jones had split — ten months after she was pictured kissing 2018 strictly partner Seann Walsh.
The pair, who married in 2013, confirmed the break-up on Instagram.
Katya and Neil were hit by the “Strictly Curse” when Katya was pictured kissing her dance partner Seann Walsh in the street outside a pub.
Hours before the story broke, the couple danced together on the show as part of a routine with other pro dancers.
At the time an insider said: “It’s going to cause real ructions backstage not least because Katya and Neil have to work alongside each other week in, week out.
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“It will be unbelievably awkward especially if Seann goes through to next week’s show.”
But Neil appeared to shrug off the controversy by posting a picture of his wife with Seann on Twitter.
Now, former girlfriend Luisa Eusse believes the trauma of Neil’s split with Katya after six years of marriage — which ended just months after she was seen snogging comic Seann Walsh — made having a relationship with him impossible.
Bisexual Luisa, who dated Neil, 38, for five months, said: “He was messed up by what happened with Katya — and it affected our relationship so much I felt he could never trust me.
“I sensed he was constantly anxious I was seeing other men and women or I may cheat on him.
“If I went out in the evening, he would wait up all night and then quiz me on where I had been, like he was my dad. It made him impossible to be with.
“I can understand it in some ways and you can’t blame him for still being bruised by Katya’s cheating but I couldn’t live with someone like that.”
