Katya Jones' dance skills came in very handy on Monday morning, when her mum, Tatiana Kim, wanted to learn how to dance the Batucada, a substyle of Samba. FaceTime lessons soon commenced, with the Strictly Come Dancing star taking to Instagram to share clips from their virtual dance class. Katya's mum soon picked up the moves, much to the delight of her daughter. The pro dancer's family live in St Petersburg, where she grew up, and she often goes to Russia to see them. Katya is incredibly close to her parents, and recently shared a sweet video of them looking at tickets to come to the UK for their daughter's upcoming dance show, Viva la Divas, which she is touring in with her Strictly co-stars Janette Manrara and Nadiya Bychkova.
Strictly star Katya Jones shared a video of her mum dancing via FaceTime
Katya, who was born in Leningrad, enjoys a close relationship with her parents. Russian Andrey Sokolov is a senior oil company executive, while Korea-born Tatiana is a graduate from the Saint-Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering. The pair have been married for 35 years, and Tatiana posted a loving tribute to her husband on their anniversary back in August. Translated from Russian, she wrote: "For 35 years ago in the funny registry office of Sestroretsk we became husband and wife. Despite many circumstances, intrigues and even ridicule.
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Katya gave a virtual dance lesson to her mum
“A girl from a serious Korean clan who did not approve of marriages outside the nationality, and a promising blue-eyed guy from a family of Soviet doctors, we made a promise to be there in grief and joy. We loved each other and what we created. Against the backdrop of the collapse of the country, we silently maintained our family world, like all our friends, who are now happy in their families… Just sharing my happiness with everyone."
Katya's parents have been incredibly supportive of her dance career. The star began dancing as a child, and it was through dancing that she met her ex-husband, Neil Jones. Despite splitting up in 2019, the pair have remained on good terms, and last month Katya shared a sweet video of the pair during the Strictly tour, proving that they are still the best of friends. Taking to social media, Katya regrammed an audience member's video of herself and Neil showing off their incredible dancing skills decked out in bright pink outfits, and also tagged her ex in the video. The pair can be seen smiling from ear to ear in the footage, proving that there's absolutely no bad blood between them.
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