Neil Jones was partnered with Nina Wadia in this year’s Strictly - but his own love life could have been an explosive EastEnders storyline.
The 39-year-old dancer was at the centre of a major scandal when his marriage was rocked by the infamous Strictly ‘curse’.
Neil married fellow pro dancer Katya Jones back in August 2013, but six years later they announced they had split.
Their marriage collapsed in 2019 after months of scrutiny following the controversy surrounding his wife’s kiss with her then-celeb dance partner Seann Walsh.
In October 2018, Katya was snapped kissing Seann, on his ex-girlfriend Rebecca Humphries’ birthday, outside a London pub - with the pair appearing on It Takes Two to explain their shocking actions.
Katya, who insisted at the time that her marriage to Neil was secure, said: "Yes obviously I apologise, and I can't apologise enough to everyone who it hurt and involved.
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"But, the main thing, me and Neil are absolutely fine and that’s what matters to me the most right now and focusing on my job and doing it as professionally I can."
Initially the pair did stand by each other, but almost a year later Neil and Katya announced they were divorcing.
However, they insisted the kiss-gate scandal had nothing to do with the decision to end their 11-year relationship.
In a joint statement, they said: "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. This will never change what a great team we make and we are really proud of everything we have achieved together.
"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. We are really looking forward to getting back to the ballroom and can't wait to keep on dancing. Lots of love from us both."
A spokeswoman for Neil and Katya made clear the split had been a recent decision and not based on the smooching scandal.
Despite the break-up, Neil and Katya continued to by friendly towards each other in the following months.
They frequently leave messages under each other's social media posts – and have both paid tribute to each other on their respective birthdays.
But Neil couldn’t escape the kissing scandal, with comedian Seann making a cruel jibe in one of his stand-up shows.
During a gig in Kennington in 2018, Seann made a joke at Neil’s expense by saying he was the "guy who kissed a gay man's wife”.
Neil has addressed his own sexuality, stating that there are a lot of straight guys in ballroom.
“But mum was always like, ‘It’s a shame you’re not gay because we could go shopping together’,” he said.
“And I was thinking, ‘whether I’m gay or not there’s no chance, you take forever’.”
Last year, Neil moved on from Katya when he found love with Colombian dancer Luisa Eusse.
The couple, who met outside a nightclub at 3am one night, moved in with each other and seemed to be very loved up during their five months together.
It was reported they had even began discussing marriage, but cracks began to appear amid reports Luisa’s visa to be in the UK had expired, then she claimed she was single after being caught at a party during lockdown.
At the beginning of the year, Neil declared dating Luisa had been the “worst mistake” of his life and sources close to the star said at the time he was “embarrassed” at reports she was being investigated by immigration forces.
In a statement, Neil’s spokeswoman told The Sun: “Neil is happy with his decision and is busy focusing on himself and some exciting work projects. He wishes Luisa all the best.”
However, Luisa also hit out at the reports herself at the time, taking to Instagram to declare: “It's not hard for me you know, I don't give a f**k what they say because if you know the truth, and if my family know the truth, and my friends know the truth, I don't have to come out every single time.”
Since then, Luisa has hinted that Neil is unable to trust women following the collapse of his marriage to Katya.
Speaking to The Sun , Luisa lifted the lid on their whirlwind relationship – and painted a paranoid painting of the Strictly star.
The 24-year-old said: “He was messed up by what happened with Katya — and it affected our relationship so much I felt he could never trust me. I sensed he was constantly anxious I was seeing other men and women or I may cheat on him.
“If I went out in the evening, he would wait up all night and then quiz me on where I had been, like he was my dad. It made him impossible to be with.
“I can understand it in some ways and you can’t blame him for still being bruised by Katya’s cheating but I couldn’t live with someone like that.”
Recently, it was reported Neil has embarked on a new romance with a Mexican model named Kelly Lopez.
The pair are said to have enjoyed a number of dates in Tulum earlier this month where Neil was said to be working and directing a music video.
They reportedly had instant chemistry and swapped numbers after shooting the video, then went out for dinner and a string of other dates.
Fans of the Strictly star have also noticed him leaving comments on Kelly’s Instagram posts, writing “beautiful” in Spanish under one of her images.
The Mirror has contacted a representative of Neil for comment.
Unfortunately, Neil and his celeb partner Nina were the first couple to be booted out of this year’s Strictly.
The pro dancer and EastEnders star found themselves in the first dance-off of the series alongside former Coronation Street actress Katie McGlynn and her partner Gorka Marquez.
The judges’ scores this week were added to those from last week, and were then combined with the results of the viewers’ votes to decide the lowest scoring two couples facing the dance off.
The judges were split and it was up to head judge Shirley Ballas to decide who was leaving - and she opted to save Katie and Gorka.
When asked by Tess about their time on the show, Nina said: “It’s been really fun, thank you so much. [Neil] is incredible, thank you.”
Neil was then asked if he had any words for his partner, Nina and said: “ You’ve been a dream. Second partner on the show for me. I wouldn’t have wanted anybody else.
You’ve been fantastic and so much fun. Literally, we’re like a married couple - you’ve got both husbands here tonight! It’s been so much fun together, you said you wanted to dance and you’ve done two fantastic dances and I’m really, really, really proud of you.”
*Strictly It Takes Two airs tonight on BBC Two at 6.30pm
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