Katya Jones has revealed how close she came to quitting Strictly Come Dancing last year after being left furious by her elimination. The professional dancer was left heartbroken after being eliminated from the competition during the quarter-finals alongside Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope.
The pair had impressed both the judges and viewers at home each week, and it proved a huge shock when the duo narrowly missed out on a place in the semi-final. Instead, Love Island star Amber Davies and professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin secured a place following the tense dance off.
Katya, 37, who has been on the programme for a decade, has now admitted that she questioned whether she had enough fight left in her to return to the BBC ballroom this year after being so gutted by how last year ended.
Doubt after heartbreak
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Katya said: "I'm not going to lie, after a certain amount of years, and only because I know I would not want to walk into this job without genuine passion and love for it because it's not fair on our fans, it's not fair on the celebrities and the experience that I'm supposed to be giving them."
She added: "Every year I do question myself, like really think, 'Are you ready for this really intense, really all consuming thing again and again and again and again?' Every time I ask myself, and if the answer is still yes, I'll be here doing it. And I must say, last year I was very heartbroken. So there was a lot of doubt, like, 'Can I face it again?'"
She went on to add that each year, the dancers face high expectations from external parties. "You kind of see yourself getting all the way there, and then to have had it cut short, was a little bit tough," she added.
New lease of life with John Nellis
However, after partnering with former air traffic control officer-turned content creator John Nellis this year, Katya has a completely new lease of life. Rather than dwelling on the past, she acknowledges that each week she makes a difference, not just to her celebrity dance partner, but to the entire nation.
"We are giving the nation something to look forward to and get through the winter," she said, adding that egos are firmly left at the door as the dancers and their celebrities tackle the challenges of each week.
During the first live show, Katya and John scored an impressive 31 points out of 40 after their Foxtrot performance. Last week, however, the pair scored just 23 on their Couples' Choice dance, inspired by Titanic during Movie Week.
Ratings drop
This week, the pair will be hoping to impress both the judges, Motsi Mabuse, head judge Shirley Ballas, Craig Revel Horwood and Anton du Beke, as well as the voting public at home. But with the third live show rapidly approaching, it appears that all dancers and celebrities must impress the viewers.
The first results of this year saw a drop of over one million people tuning in for the pre-recorded episode, which airs on a Sunday evening. According to ratings data shared by Digital i, Sunday's show drew in 4.5 million viewers, compared to 6.2 million last year. This comes after it was reported that the first live show of the year achieved a peak of 5 million viewers, dropping by more than a million, as 2025's first live show attracted an average of 6.2 million views.
