Long-serving Strictly Come Dancing professional Katya Jones has admitted that she seriously contemplated leaving the show when she and her celebrity partner Lewis Cope missed out on a spot in last year’s final.
Katya and Lewis were frontrunners throughout Strictly’s 2025 run, but fell at the final hurdle when they were eliminated after the live quarter-final.
At the time, the Russian-born performer made no secret of her shock and heartbreak at not making it further in the contest, telling the Daily Mail this week: “Every year, I do question myself, like really think, ‘Are you ready for this really intense, really all-consuming thing again and again and again and again?’.
“Every time I ask myself, and if the answer is still yes, I’ll be here doing it.”
She continued: “And I must say, last year I was very heartbroken. So there was a lot of doubt, like, ‘Can I face it again?’.”
“I guess our expectation was so high and not even from us, externally, you kind of see yourself getting all the way there,” Katya added.
“And then to have had it cut short was a little bit tough.”
During her decade-long stint on Strictly, Katya has been responsible for some of the show’s most memorable moments in its modern era.
Her very first year, she was famously paired up with Ed Balls, and was responsible for choreographing his now-iconic Gangnam Style routine, before lifting the Glitterball Trophy alongside Joe McFadden the following season.
She later made headlines when she was caught on camera kissing her celebrity partner Seann Walsh at a time they were both in relationships, and went on to make Strictly history as part of the show’s first ever same-sex partnership with Nicola Adams.
Katya got off to a strong start on this year’s season, topping the week one leaderboard alongside content creator John Nellis.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday night at 6.15pm on BBC One.
