The family of Strictly Come Dancing professional Robin Windsor have expressed their “profound sadness” after an inquest jury concluded he took his own life. The 44-year-old dancer was found dead in a hotel room in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in February 2024.
The jury found that Windsor was “vulnerable to rejection both emotionally and professionally” and that this was among the contributing factors leading to his death. A statement on Windsor’s X account on Thursday, after the inquest concluded, read: “It is with profound sadness that we acknowledge that Robin took his own life. As a family, together with Robin’s close friends, we can now begin to move forward and attempt, over time, to rebuild our lives.”
Windsor joined the BBC programme in 2010 and danced with celebrities including Patsy Kensit, Anita Dobson, Lisa Riley and Deborah Meaden across four series until 2013. He was unable to perform in the 2014 series due to a back injury and was dropped from the lineup in 2015, though he appeared in the Christmas special that year with Alison Hammond.
A written statement from Emmerdale actor Lisa Riley, read to the inquest, said Windsor’s “glow had gone” after he was cut from the professional dancers’ lineup. She said: “It was from this moment, on to the time of his death, he kept slipping deeper and deeper into endless depression.”
The coroner, Dr Anton van Dellen, addressed Windsor’s family in court, saying: “I hope you can think of the happy times he brought to the public and the deep affection the public held him in.” A BBC spokesperson said: “Our sympathies are with Robin’s family, friends and all who knew him. The whole of the Strictly Come Dancing family remain deeply saddened by his passing.”
Windsor, from Ipswich, had been an ambassador for mental health charity Sane. His family urged others struggling with mental health to seek support, adding: “You don’t have to face things alone.”
