Strictly Come Dancing star Katya Jones has opened up about her "profound" relationship with ex-husband Neil Jones.
The professional dancers, who both appear on the hit BBC ballroom show, wed in 2013, five years after meeting in Blackpool and forming their professional dance partnership.
In August 2019, Katya and Neil parted ways after six years of marriage. Neil has since welcomed a baby with fiancée Chyna Mills of Love Island fame.
In a new interview with The Mirror, Katya shared what her relationship is like now with her Strictly co-star.
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"It's sad that this seems to be unusual [being friends with your ex-husband]," she says. "It doesn't have to be that way, does it?
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"Gosh, we knew each other since we were 18 and started dancing. We lived a life together. It was me and him against the world, chasing our dreams.
"We were the only people there for each other, so of course there is a much more profound connection there, so you can't just throw that away."
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Katya went on to say she enjoys a good relationship with Neil's new partner Chyna and has spent time with the couple's daughter Havana, now 7 months old.
"It's incredible, they are all doing so well, and I love his little girl," she said. "I met her when she came on tour. She is beautiful and he is a really good dad."
Neil and Katya's split in 2019 came several months after photos of Katya kissing celebrity dance partner Seann Walsh were published in the media.
In an interview given in June 2020, Neil later said that the incident was not behind the couple's split.
"We found that we'd grown apart like people do, so we were like, 'OK, let's go our separate ways'," he told The Sun. "We are lucky that we don't have kids. It had nothing to do with what happened [with Seann].
"We were moving in different directions, but we are friends again now."
Strictly Come Dancing will return later this year on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
Tickets for Strictly Come Dancing: The Professionals live tour are available now.
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Emily is an experienced freelance entertainment writer and editor, reporting on all things TV, film, soaps and showbiz. An NCTJ-qualified journalist, with a First Class Honours degree in Journalism from the University of Sussex, Emily is a former Deputy News Editor and Evening News Editor at Digital Spy. She has previously worked at Hello magazine, BBC South News and GoodtoKnow.
A small and big-screen obsessive – with subscriptions to every TV and film service under the sun – Emily knows her movie stars from soap stars, and is always clued up on the latest reality show dumping, just-dropped trailer or off-screen spat. She's interviewed a number of celebrities over the years, with highlights including The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett and GMB's Kate Garraway (who "loved" her trousers).
Emily counts Sharon Horgan and Julia Davis as her TV heroes, and is a loyal Wes Anderson fan. LinkedIn
