BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Neil Jones makes 'life' admisson as he speaks out on Toyah Wilcox exit

Neil Jones has made an admission about his partnership with Toyah Wilcox as he spoke for the first time sicne their Strictly Come Dancing exit. The pair were the second couple to leave the BBC One dance contest over the weekend.

They landed in the dreaded dance-off for a second week in a row follwoing the show's annual Movie Week special in which Toyah tranformed into villainous sea Ursula from The Little Mermaid for their samba to Poor Unfortunate Souls from the Disney film.

They had to dance-off against former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson and his partner Karen Hauer during the second results show of the BBC One dance contest's 2024 series on Sunday night (October 6).

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After both couples had to perform their film-inspired routines again, in which Paul and Karen repeated their cha cha to the Magnificent Seven theme, the judges unamiously decided to save Paul and Karen, meaning Toyah and Neil had to say their goodbyes.

Following the show, Toyah took to X, formerly known as Twitter, and said: "Thanks for all your support, it’s been a great ride. Thank you to the entire Strictly team for one of the most exciting experiences of my life, and Neil you are my rock xxx."

But now the singer and her dance partner have appeared on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two to discuss their time on the show and share their feelings about their early exit.

Speaking to host Fleur East, 1980s singer-songwriter, Toyah said she was "gutted"to the Magnificent Seven theme, the judges unanimously to be leaving the show, but was not going to let her early departure blight the "fantastic time" she had. She added: "I was not off first, which meant a lot to me. I’ve had the most brilliant life-affirming experience in the last two months, I’m in a good place."

Professional dancer Neil told Toyah that he was going to remain in contact "for life" now after they had had "so much fun" and laughter during rehearsals. "We’ve had really great conversations as well, and it was so nice to hear you’ve been waiting so long to do the show and it’s brilliant when she came to the show and she asked for me, that meant a lot to me," he added.

Toyah also told how she hopes her time on Strictly Come Dancing inspires those who feel "age is the end" that everyone deserves to have a "positive and brilliant experience" every day.

Reflecting on why she wanted to challenge stereotypes about age by participating, she said: "It’s incredibly important that everyone has a good day every day of their lives. I’m 66, I’ve never been shy about that, and I have to say that Strictly has made me feel so incredibly healthy, which I love.

"But we all deserve every day of our life, no matter what age we are, for it to be a positive and brilliant experience, and if I can put that across to people who are feeling that age is the end, then I’ve done a good job."