Daily Mail, Monday, August 19, 2019 Page
Strictly on
the rocks!
Dancers to divorce 10 months
after Katya’s kiss with comic
AFTER she was caught
drunkenly kissing her
Strictly Come Dancing celeb-
rity partner, Katya Jones and
her husband Neil insisted the
indiscretion would not wreck
their marriage.
Yesterday, however, the couple
announced they were splitting,
ten months after the controversy
caused a scandal at the BBC.
The dancers, both professionals on
Strictly, celebrated their sixth wed-
ding anniversary this month, and
have been together for 11 years. Now
they are the latest couple to fall vic-
tim to the so-called curse of Strictly.
During the last series, Mrs Jones
was spotted in a passionate embrace
with her dance partner, comedian
Seann Walsh, on a boozy night out.
Walsh’s long-term girlfriend imme-
diately ended their relationship, but
the Joneses insisted they were stay-
ing together and continued to dance
alongside one another.
In an official statement yesterday
they said their marriage had becomefriend, comedian Rebecca Humphries,
released a devastating message accus-
ing the comic of emotional abuse.
She also said the pictures of the pair
kissing in the street were taken on her
own birthday, when Walsh had failed to
come home to celebrate with her.
Mrs Jones apologised online, calling it
a ‘one-off mistake after some drinks’.
She added: ‘I love my husband and we
are very happy together, this is not a
reflection on our relationship.’
A spokesman for the pair insisted
that their decision to part was not due
solely to the Walsh kissing scandal.
[email protected]By Alisha Rouse
Showbusiness CorrespondentKiss: Katya and Walsh last OctoberMail Foreign Service‘We will always
love each other’
Partners: Katya
and Neil Jones.
Inset: The pair
this month
before news
of the splitA BRITISH holidaymaker was in a criti-
cal condition in a French hospital last
night after falling from a balcony during
a ‘passionate sex session’ in full view of
the public.
The 30-year-old and his partner plunged
12ft from the first floor of their holiday rental
in the Riviera resort of Le Cannet, north of
Cannes, after toppling over railings.
The man was rushed to an intensive care
unit at the Pasteur Hospital in Nice, while
his partner, who is 28 and Canadian, was
‘hurt but stable’.
It is thought she may have been cush-
ioned by her lover in the fall. An investiga-tor said last night: ‘The couple were seen
making love on the balcony of their holiday
rental flat. They were becoming very pas-
sionate indeed, and suddenly toppled into
the street below. Neighbours called the
emergency services immediately.’
Police have opened an investigation to
establish whether alcohol or drugs may
have been involved in the accident on Sat-
urday at 12.30pm.
There was no indication that anybody else
might have been involved, said the source.
Reports of British tourists dying or beinginjured from balcony falls have become a
depressingly familiar part of the summer
holiday season.
The problem is usually in Spanish Costa
resorts frequented by groups of young men
and women who drink vast quantities of
alcohol. The latest case in France is an unu-
sual example of this kind of accident – not
only because of the activity the tourists
were engaged in but also because it is in a
more upmarket villa.
Earlier this summer it emerged that hotel
bosses have been advised by holiday opera-
tors not to assign travellers from the UK
rooms which have a balcony barrier lowerthan 3.6ft. The orders came after three Brit-
ons plunged to their deaths from the same
building in tourist hotspot Magaluf last
year. Francisco Gene, director of the
Menorca Binibeca Hotel, said: ‘TUI and
Jet2 rules mean no British guests can stay
in rooms with balconies that don’t meet
new height requirements.
‘In places like Magaluf in Majorca there
have been a lot of accidents, usually after
guests have been drinking and climb over
to friends’ rooms. It happens every month
in peak season. Now if guests insist on a
room they shouldn’t have we make them
sign a disclaimer about the balcony.’more of a friendship. They said: ‘After
11 years, we have made the mutual
decision to separate.
‘We will always love each other, just in
a different way as friends. This will
never change what a great team we
make and we are really proud of every-
thing we have achieved together.
‘Our shared love of dance means we
will keep working and dancing together
as well as exploring individual projects.
No matter what we do we will always
support and respect each other.
‘We wish one another every happiness
and we will remain the best of friends.
We are really looking forward to getting
back to the ballroom and can’t wait to
keep on dancing.’
There were calls for Mrs Jones and
Walsh to be booted off the show after
the kissing scandal, with the BBC
reportedly concerned it could ruin the
programme’s family image. Walsh’s girl-THE LAST
PICTURE
Couple in throes of passion plunge from balcony
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