Katya Jones breaks silence amid BBC Strictly ‘axe’ rumours ahead of milestone series: ‘I am hoping’
Strictly Come Dancing professional Katya Jones has addressed rumours of her potential departure from the show, expressing her hopes to return for what would be her milestone tenth year.
The dancer, who has been among several professionals reportedly facing the axe from the BBC show, broke her silence on the speculation.
“Am I hoping to be back? Well this year would be my 10th on Strictly so I am hoping for a round number,” Jones told The Mirror.
The comments come amid widespread reports of a planned shake-up of the professional dancer line-up for the 2025 series.
The reports suggest Jones could be departing alongside fellow professionals Neil Jones and Gorka Marquez.
The potential changes come as part of what appears to be a significant restructuring of the show’s professional dance roster for 2025.
A source recently revealed to media outlets: “The review of the line-up has always been about making a fresh start, and that was always going to be affected by which dancers performed well this series.”
The insider noted that most of the professionals rumoured to be leaving were eliminated in the first half of the last series.
“It couldn’t have come at a worse time for them, because Strictly bosses feel they need to make some major changes, even if that means big names leaving,” the source added.
The comments suggest the show’s producers are preparing for a significant overhaul of the professional dancer roster.
Jones and her most recent dance partner Wynne Evans faced controversy during the last series over what they described as a ‘silly joke’.
The incident occurred when viewers claimed Jones appeared uncomfortable after moving Evans’ hand from her waist during a live broadcast.
Addressing the situation on It Takes Two, Jones said: “I just want to get something out of the way that I feel overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason.
“Quite frankly I can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he is not.”
She clarified that the hand movement and high-five were “an inside joke” between the pair, though she admitted it was both “silly” and “bad”.
Evans later expressed his distress over the incident in a separate interview.
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“I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day,” he said.
The Strictly contestant emphasised his close friendship with Jones, explaining: “Katya and I are really, really close and we’re really good friends, and on Saturday we made a stupid joke.”
“It was a stupid joke that went wrong, OK? We thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted,” Evans added.
The clarification came as both dancers sought to address the public reaction to their on-air moment.