Strictly Come Dancing’s Neil Jones has got a big reason to celebrate this year. After twice being the runner up in the It Takes Two Professional dance challenge, he's finally taken the trophy – and set a new world record at the same time.
Tonight's (11 December) challenge saw all the pros attempt to do the most amount of samba whisks in 30 seconds, overseen by head judge Shirley Ballas and an independent adjudicator from Guinness World Records.
They timed each professional, then watched back the footage in slow motion to see if any of the steps had to be disqualified.
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Neil was joined by last year’s winner Kai Widdrington, who said he was already clearing space on his wall for his next certificate.
Despite his confidence, it was Neil who took the win with 58 whisks to his name. He originally had 63 steps, but had some disqualified.
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Following the speedy challenge, he said: “It didn’t feel anything like a normal whisk but I didn’t care. I was thinking about the footwork and the speed and that was it. I’ve spent quite a few years being second, it’s got to be my time to be first.”
On the show, Neil admitted he wasn’t sure if he’d beat Kai as he had a little stumble in the middle, and said what it would mean to him to take the top spot.
"It would mean a lot, do you know what, it would mean a lot to my daughter." Tugging on the heartstrings he added about his two-year-old Havana: "That’s what she wants, she said to me, ‘Daddy, I don’t want anything for Christmas, just that.’ I told her I’ll do my best."
Celebrating the win, he ran round the studio and picked up host Janette Manrara who commented: "The bridesmaid has become the bride."
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"Well done Neil so happy for him getting the record after 3 years in 2nd. Now give him a partner next year," one fan wrote on X with another adding: "Neil’s moment! A Pro Challenge winner at last. Impressive stuff."
Coming in second was Nadiya Bychkova with 53 steps. At the other end was Dianne Buswell with 2 and Julian Caillon with 0 steps after they were all disqualified.
This weekend is the Strictly Come Dancing semi-final, with each celebrity pairing taking on two dances in hopes to impress the judges and the audience at home, and get to the big final next weekend.
Strictly Come Dancing airs on Saturdays on BBC One, while spin-off Strictly: It Takes Two airs on weeknights on BBC Two. Both shows are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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Catherine is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, and was the site's News Editor between 2018 and 2024. Prior to that, she worked at OK! Online, and has interviewed a slew of celebrities across her career in entertainment news, including Tom Hanks, Cheryl and Noel Fielding. Catherine also has specialist knowledge in all things drag, interviewing a huge portion of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, and getting her own drag makeover for Channel 4's show Drag SOS. LinkedIn
