It's not long now until our favourite dancefloor lights up and 2018's round of celebrities will put on their ballroom shoes – but as we wait patiently for this years Strictly Come Dancing star cast to be announced, there's been an exciting new development regarding the professional team of dancers. It's finally been revealed that Neil Jones will partner with a celebrity on the main show, according to Strictly's voiceover artist Alan Dedicoat. He told The Sun: "Neil Jones is doing it this year. He’s always been on the show but not coupled with someone, so it’ll be interesting to see how he does."
Neil with his wife, fellow professional Katya Jones
Great news! The show's fans have long been calling for Neil to have a spot in the main line-up, since he's become a favourite for his fun on-camera humour and incredible talent - but has only ever appeared in professional group dances on the main show. It's thought that he'll take the place of recently-axed star Brendan Cole, too.
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In July, when Neil asked his followers what they were most excited for about this year's series, most commented saying they hoped to see him with a celebrity partner. "Come on, they’ve got to give you a partner this year. Would love to see you and Katya in competition," one fan wrote, while another added: "I really hope you get a partner this year, you deserve it."
This year's professional cast
Despite this, Neil's spot on this year's series was most likely a recent decision - since he revealed in an interview in June that he still didn't know if he'll compete for the glitterball. Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he said: "I still don’t know! Between a few of us we’re still not sure.
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It seems it all depends on which celebrities are cast for this series - as they are matched to professionals based on things like height, according to Neil. "Of course Brendan left, and we didn’t want him to go, but he’s six foot something. I’m a lot smaller than him, so it now all depends on the celebrities. Because Brendan danced with Charlotte [Hawkins] last year and there’s no way I would’ve been able to dance with her because she’s taller than me." We wonder who Neil's lucky first partner is!
