Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil Jones has broken his silence after landing at the very bottom of the leaderboard(Image: BBC/Guy Levy)

BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Neil Jones breaks silence with subtle dig after lowest score of night

Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil Jones is paired with singer-songwriter Toyah Willcox

23 Sep 2024, 08:04 by Susan Knox · Irish Mirror

Strictly Come Dancing professional Neil Jones has broken his silence after landing at the very bottom of the leaderboard following the first week of the BBC competition.

On Saturday night's show, singer-songwriter Toyah Willcox, 66, danced to Madonna’s Ray of Light with her professional partner Neil, 42, who has been left out of the line-up in recent weeks. They performed a tango – alongside Tom Dean and Nadiya Bychkova.

After their debut dance, the pair were only scored a mere 12 points from the judging panel, consisting of Craig Revel-Horwood, Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, and Motsi Mabuse. It's the first time Neil has been partnered with a celebrity since 2021, when he danced alongside former EastEnders icon, Nina Wadia.

After making his comeback after three long years, Strictly viewers were disappointed to see Neil and celebrity partner Toyah at the bottom of the leaderboard - but the professional dancer is determined to come back better than ever with an epic performance this Saturday night. Neil broke his silence on his low score as he took to Instagram to address the results.

Neil and Toyah were only scored 12 points(Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

Neil has gushed over his celebrity partner, Toyah Willcox(Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

Sharing a clip of his performance with his 262,000 Instagram followers, the professional dancer wrote: "Okay, week one and what can I say. Firstly, I am having a blast with Toyah. Her love for the show and honesty I mean every part is incredible and she just brings joy into everyone's lives. I've always said I love a complete beginner and I'm standing by that because it is a joy to enter the studio every day with Toyah and watch her grow and learn.

"If you watched her on day one you will see how much Toyah has improved. So, we are starting our journey with a 12, and we will keep finding ways to direct her incredible energy. Let's go partner with week two."

It comes as the first week of Strictly Come Dancing was hit with a huge blow following the bullying allegations that has surrounded the BBC show for months and after Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima's exits. Following the scandal, viewing figures for the live show were the lowest of a series since the show began.

Figures have shown that at its peak, 6.7 million fans watched the live edition on Saturday. That is down from the 7.3 million peak of last year's show, with the highest to date being 10.2 million in 2020. It marks a steady continuous decline in recent years, with an insider claiming the drop has left bosses of the reality dance contest "worried". However, the BBC still insist the series was the most-watched show on TV on Saturday.

"The fact that the first live show saw a drop too will be of concern to them -particularly if the drop continues into next week, which is the first elimination show," an insider claimed.

They continued to tellThe Sun: "They now face an anxious wait to see whether the drop in on-the-night viewers is made up for by an increase in fans watching Strictly oniPlayer, but those figures take days and weeks to compile." The source added that it was the live figures, however, that "really matter" to the BBC.

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