Strictly's Neil Jones takes swipe at professional co-stars after series 'snub'

05 October 2023 , 14:10

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Strictly's Neil Jones takes swipe at professional co-stars after series 'snub'

Despite being on Strictly Come Danicng for six years, Neil Jones has only ever had two celebrity partners and his role on the BBC show was reduced to being a background dancer.

And this may explain why the professional dancer has now claimed that he and his pro dance partner Nadiya Bychkova, do not need celebrities as they World Champions - unlike most of the other pro dancers on the show. This year Nadiya wasn't paired with a celebrity for the first time since she joined the show, which she admitted had been hard to handle. The 'snub' is also said to have raised questions about the selection process that goes into which celebrity is paired with a professional dancer.

Strictly's Neil Jones takes a swipe at his show's co-stars

Speaking to Mailonline, Neil said: "If anyone makes a joke and we do joke around with each other a lot it's still 'I won 45 titles... four-times world champion... 15 times British.' I have done it all, I don't need it. The guys know it as well and they really respect me, and they will even make the joke when something happens 'but Neil is a four-time world champion' and they have never won any of those events."

He added: "There are only three of us that are world champions on the show, me, Katya and Nadiya... me and Katya are the only pros that have won Blackpool... it's those things, we have done that, Strictly is a different thing. Our roles are not about us, I understand on the show that the professional dancers have become very popular, but we are there for the celebrities and to make them shine."

Neil can count winning the British National Dance Championships eight times and becoming World Latin Champion four times over. Providing an insight into the selection process Neil said that the partnerships are based on height and whether the pair look good together.

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Earlier this week, head judge Shirley Ballas was at the centre of controversy following claims that she marks down the female contestants on the show, while giving the male contestants high scores. On last week's show, Shirley scored Zara McDermott the lowest points out of all four judges, and she did the same to Ellie Leach and Angela Rippon.

But Neil claims that she is just a tough taskmaster and has incredibly high standards. And he added that she is a "technician" . This was seen when she made a harsh comment to former EastEnders ' Nigel Harman where she described his routine as brilliant but said he had "wrong footwork."

Neil continued: "She is so professional. We always call Shirley the most professional, professional. As a dancer you would always want to dance with someone like Shirley because she is on her feet, and she knows exactly how to do every movement. She knows the book inside and out."

Lucretia Munro