NEIL Jones is waltzing back onto our screens as he joins the professional cast in Strictly Come Dancing.
The professional dancer’s marriage and subsequent split with Katya Jones has grabbed headlines over the years – so here’s all you need to know about his life and career so far.
Neil Jones returns to the ballroom for Strictly Come Dancing
Who is Neil Jones?
Neil Jones is a professional ballroom dancer who works as a pro for Strictly Come Dancing.
He’s British but was born in Munster, Germany.
Neil started dancing at a local ballet school at the age of just three.
He has represented Finland, Holland and the UK during the course of his competitive career.
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He also holds many 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 now dating 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 Eusse two years ago.
Neil has remained tight-lipped about his romantic life since he split from estranged wife Katya Jones.
The former couple were married in 2013 and announced their separation six years later, in August 2019.
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.
An insider, at the time, 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.
“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.
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“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.”