Neil Jones has shared his devastation after revealing he was unable to attend his Uncle Johnny's funeral on Wednesday due to the coronavirus lockdown. The Strictly Come Dancing professional posted the heartbreaking news on his Instagram Stories, paying tribute to his late uncle. Captioning a photo of his relative, Neil wrote: "It's sad today that we can't even say goodbye. You will always be in our thoughts. RIP Johnny." He also posted on Twitter, writing: "Today is my uncle's funeral but the sad fact is we can’t even say goodbye. RIP Johnny and my thoughts are with my family. Thank you to everyone who stood out in his street just to pay their respects." At present, government guidelines state only immediate family members; parents, children, partner or spouse are to attend funerals.
Neil Jones was unable to attend his uncle's funeral
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Fans of the dancer were quick to send their messages of condolences. One follower wrote: "Sending so much love xxx", while another added: "Sending you and your family lots of love." A third chimed: "Awww Neil sending u lots of love from my family to yours."
Neil is keeping himself busy at home while he remains in lockdown, showing off his upcycling skills and entertaining fans with dancing videos. At least he has his job on Strictly to look forward to after BBC's Controller of Programming Dan McGolpin confessed that show bosses remain hopeful that the series will come back without a hitch.
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Neil Jones will be back on Strictly this year, government guidelines permitting
"It wouldn't be the same if we didn't have Strictly in the autumn, would it?" he told BBC Essex over the weekend. "So, no of course, the BBC is doing everything it can, and I know that everyone involved in that production team would absolutely love that to happen this autumn."
Although the professional dancers have already been confirmed, with Neil being on that list, the celebrity line-up is due to be announced this summer with the launch happening in autumn. "We've really just got to keep watching the government advice," he added. "Thinking about what's possible. And if there's any way of bringing Strictly back this autumn, then we absolutely will. That's very much our intentions, so yeah fingers crossed."
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