Strictly’s Katya Jones left emotional as she addresses elimination from show

'It’s tough but I’m really really proud'
Joey Crutchley

Strictly’s Katya Jones was left emotional on It Takes Two as she addressed her and Lewis Cope’s elimination from the show.

The pro dancer was booted off the competition last weekend alongside soap star Lewis Cope. And it’s fair to say their exit left plenty of viewers furious.

On Monday (December 8) the pair appeared on It Takes Two, where Katya broke down in tears when discussing their elimination.

Katya and Lewis on It Takes Two
Things took an emotional turn (Credit: BBC)

Katya Jones and Lewis Cope on Strictly’s It Takes Two

On Monday (December 8) Lewis and Katya appeared on spin-off show It Takes Two. And things took an emotional turn when Katya opened up about them leaving the programme.

“We’re just trying to focus on the positives,” Lewis said, talking about his Strictly exit. Meanwhile Katya went on to make a heartbreaking confession.

She shared: “Looking back, I can’t help but think maybe I could have done things differently to make it work for him better.”

Katya and Lewis on It Takes Two
Katya welled up watching their best bits (Credit: BBC)

Katya’s heartbreaking confession

With tears welling up in her eyes, Lewis quickly comforted her and told her: “You did everything perfect.”

Katya added: “But he can only do what I ask him to do and whatever I’ve asked you to do you did everything single day.”

The dancer reflected: “And we were in a tough position, I feel like we were expected to deliver these almost perfect show-stopping routines every single Saturday, which you did, I don’t know how but you did!”

Lewis replied: “Because of you,” as Katya continued: “It’s tough but I’m really really proud. We grafted!”

The pair were then shown on a montage of their best bits on the show. Katya again had tears welling up in her eyes as she watched back the iconic and heartwarming moments and was handed a tissue by Lewis.

When asked what will stay with Lewis the most about Strictly, Lewis confessed: “It’s not really about dancing.

“You [Katya] have made me fall in love with dance? But you’ve also made me fall in love with life again, so thank you.” Katya was then seen dabbing her face with a tissue.

Katya and Lewis on It Takes Two
Lewis comforted Katya (Credit: BBC)

Judges criticise Strictly star Lewis Cope

On Saturday night’s show (December 6), Lewis danced a salsa to The Dance at the Gym from West Side Story with Katya Jones. However, their performance didn’t go as well as many of theirs have in recent weeks. They picked up 35 points for it, their lowest score in weeks.

This meant they were tied for second place with Balvinder and Julian and George and Alexis on the leaderboard. Amber topped it, while Karen was at the bottom.

“It wasn’t your best dance for me by far,” Shirley Ballas said. Anton, meanwhile, told the duo that the partnering part of their dance needed to be more “subtle”, with the routine suffering because of it.

Craig Revel Horwood also had some criticism, branding the salsa a “little bit square”. “Things weren’t finished in this, bizarrely,” he also said.

Read more: Strictly pro declares it ‘doesn’t matter’ who wins final now as backlash intensifies and audience ‘switches off’