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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Charlotte Everett

James Jordan slams Strictly Come Dancing for not giving Neil Jones a partner again

James Jordan has slammed Strictly Come Dancing for not giving professional dancer Neil Jones a partner in the latest series.

The outspoken former Strictly pro weighed in on this year's couples and was particularly upset to find out Neil hasn't got a partner for the fourth time in the last six series.

Four new dancers have joined the line-up, all of who were paired up with celebrities that are competing.

Discussing the show with his fans on Twitter, one follower asked James: "Why does Neil miss out again?"

James replied: "Very strange - such a shame they don’t use the talent we have in this country. Especially when he has the best pedigree.

READ MORE: Are you a Strictly Come Dancing super fan? Take our quiz and find out

Neil has had two partners in six years (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
James thought Neil should have been paired with a celeb (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

"Nothing against the foreign dancers as my wife was one of them BUT too few home grown so why not Neil???"

Three of the four new dancers are foreign - Italian stallion Vito Coppola, Latin dance champion Michelle Tsiakkas from Cyprus and Chinese National Champion Carlos Gu.

Neil is British but was born in Munster, Germany.

Neil joined Strictly in 2016 (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)
Neil hasn't got a celebrity partner this year (Getty Images)

He started dancing at a local ballet school at the age of just three and went on to represent Finland, Holland and the UK throughout his competitive career.

Neil holds multiple titles including UK, British, Dutch, European and World Latin Champion.

Since he first joined Strictly six years ago, Neil has been paired with EastEnders star Nina Wadia in 2021 and BBC sport's Alex Jones back in 2019.

The 2022 series of the show kicked off on Friday which saw each of the celebrities paired up with their professional dance partners.

Vito Coppola is paired with Fleur East (BBC/Ray Burmiston)
Carlos Gu has also bagged a celebrity partner on his first year on the show (Instagram / Carlos Gu)

They also all performed their first group dance of the series together to give viewers a sneak peek of their dance moves.

Saturday night's episode will see the celebrities perform with their partner for the first time and face the wrath of the four judges.

There are two same-sex couple this year as the 15 pairings were revealed.

Comedian Jayde Adams and professional dancer Karen Hauer were confirmed to be performing together as well as Radio 2 host Richie Anderson was paired up with reigning champion Giovanni Pernice.

James said there should be more 'home grown' talent (Rex)
James answered one of his follower's questions (Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

This year's pairings are as follows:

  • Ellie Simmons and Nikita Kuzmin
  • Tyler West and Dianne Buswell
  • Kaye Adams and Kai Widdrington
  • Jayde Adams and Karen Hauer
  • Richie Anderson and Giovanni Pernice
  • Helen Skelton and Gorka Marquez
  • Katya Jones and Tony Adams
  • Fleur East and Vito Coppola
  • Matt Goss and Nadiya Bychkova
  • Kym Marsh and Graziano Di Prima
  • Will Mellor and Nancy Xu
  • James Bye and Amy Dowden
  • Hamza Yassin and Jowita Przystal
  • Ellie Taylor and Johannes Radebe
  • Molly Rainford and Carlos Gu

Each week every couple will perform a dance and receive praise or criticism from the judges.

After two couples have been put in the bottom two following a public vote, one couple will hang up their dancing shoes and head home.

This will continue until the 2022 champion is crowned and lifts the iconic Glitterball trophy.

Strictly Come Dancing continues tonight at 6.45pm on BBC One.

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