Entertainment

Strictly’s Neil Jones appears to confirm new romance after Katya split

The professional dancers announced their separation in August last year.
The professional dancers announced their separation in August last year. The professional dancers announced their separation in August last year.

Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil Jones has appeared to confirm a new relationship – one year after splitting from wife Katya.

The dancer shared a black and white photo of himself embracing and kissing the head of a mystery woman, captioning the image with a heart emoji.

The apparent confirmation comes after Jones, 38, and 31-year-old fellow Strictly dancer Katya announced their separation on August 18 last year, after six years of marriage and 11 years together.

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A number of Strictly professionals and former contestants on the BBC One show responded to Jones’s post with messages of support.

In an apparent reference to the woman in the photo, fellow professional Gorka Marquez quipped: “So now you’re half Spanish!”

YouTuber Saffron Barker wrote “Aw” and shared three blue hearts, while Italian dancer Graziano Di Prima added: “awwww Man!!”

Ryan McShane, a professional dancer who has appeared on the Irish version of Strictly, wrote: “Deserve the happiness mate! Much love.”

Strictly Come Dancing 2018
Strictly Come Dancing 2018 Seann Walsh and Katya Jones (Ray Burmiston/PA)

In October 2018, Katya was pictured kissing her celebrity dance partner comedian Seann Walsh.

The incident was widely referred to as another instance of the so-called “Strictly curse”.

However, the Joneses said the kiss was not the cause of their split, indicating their marriage had become more a friendship than a romance.

The next series of Strictly will take place later this year, although it will be shorter than usual due to the coronavirus pandemic.