Strictly fans believe they’ve worked out the ‘real reason’ Neil Jones never gets a celebrity partner on the main show.
The pro dancer, who appears on The Celebrity Chase tonight (Sunday, May 3), has had just three celeb partners in a decade on the show.
Neil is often without a celeb partner on Strictly (Credit: BBC)
Strictly fans ‘work out’ why Neil Jones never gets a celebrity partner
Since joining the show back in 2016, Neil has been paired up with a celebrity partner just three times on the main series.
In 2019, he received his first celebrity partner in the form of Alex Scott. Together they reached the quarter-finals.
Neil had to wait two years for his next partner. In 2021, he was paired up with EastEnders star Nina Wadia. Unfortunately, it was a short stint on the show for the couple, as they became the first couple to be eliminated.
Three years later, in 2024, Neil was paired with Toyah Willcox. However, it proved another short stint on the show, as they became the second couple to be eliminated.
Last year, Neil was benched again – the seventh time this had happened.
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Neil’s ‘preference’?
However, some fans believe that being benched is just a preference of the star’s, which would explain why he keeps coming back, despite regularly being snubbed on the celeb partner front.
Taking to Reddit, fans of the show shared their theories.
“Classic backup goalkeeper situation. Good payday, gets to participate in all the fun stuff, helps the career during the Strictly downtime but without the stress of Saturday and dealing with teaching etc,” one fan explained.
“I’d guess at this point it must be a preference on his part,” another theorised.
“I think he’s likely to be the troubleshooter who can stand in if any of the male pros get an injury, but that’s just a guess,” a third wrote.
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