Strictly Come Dancing’s Neil and Katya Jones announce split

Neil and Katya Jones have announced that they are splitting.

The Strictly Come Dancing stars took to their social media accounts to announce the sad news that they have chosen to part ways.

Taking to their respective Instagram accounts, the professional dancing duo released a joint statement to explain the separation to their 166k and 136k followers.

Captioning their posts with just a plain black heart emoji symbol, the pair wrote: ‘Hi everyone. As our fans and loyal supporters you are really important to us and so we wanted to let you know some news. After 11 years, we have made the mutual decision to separate.

‘We will always love each other, just in a different way as friends,’ they continued. ‘This will never change what a great team we make and we are really proud of everything we have achieved together.’

The pair then made reference to their work as professional dancers on the BBC show, where Katya has competed since 2016 and Neil has acted as a standby taking part in group dances, writing: ‘Our shared love of dance means we will keep working and dancing together as well as exploring individual projects. No matter what we do we will always support and respect each other.

‘We wish one another every happiness and we will remain the best of friends,’ they added. ‘We are really looking forward to getting back to the ballroom and can’t wait to keep on dancing.’

Neil and Katya have been married since 2013 and only recently took to their Instagram pages to wish each other a happy six-year wedding anniversary.

The split comes after a rollercoaster year for the pair, when they were hit by infidelity rumours after Katya was seen cosying up to her 2018 dancing partner, comedian Seann Walsh.

Fellow strictly professionals and former competitors all took the post to support the couple, with professional dancers Ola Jordan, Joanne Clifton, Amy Dowden and new judge Motsi Mabuse leaving a series of emoji symbols that included red hearts and the praying hands sign.

Former competitors Mollie King, Melvin O’doom and Katie Piper also commented.

Fellow dancer Janette Manrara, who is married to Strictly professional Aljaž Škorjanec, also left a message of support, writing: ‘I love you both tremendously! You are both incredible people, talented dancers, & wonderful friends! ❤️’.