Overview
- Jones says last year’s shock quarter‑final elimination with actor Lewis Cope left her “heartbroken” and made her seriously consider leaving the programme.
- She has publicly blamed herself for the 2025 exit and broke down on the spin‑off It Takes Two while Cope comforted her after the dance‑off loss to Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin.
- Jones decided to return for an 11th year and was paired with John Nellis, with the pair topping the leaderboard after the first live show with a Foxtrot score of 31 out of 40.
- She says she questions the show’s intensity every year and will quit the moment she no longer loves it, and her comments sit alongside long‑running public scrutiny of her career, including a widely reported 2018 incident.
- Producers’ earlier 2026 roster changes, which saw several long‑standing professionals leave the show, help explain why remaining pros face greater pressure and why partnerships and early results now carry extra weight for the series’ direction.