BBC Strictly Come Dancing star 'mortified' following second exit of series despite having 'so much fun'

Strictly Come Dancing star Neil Jones was showing signs of being 'mortified' as he and Toyah Wilcox became the latest couple to leave the competition.

The singer and professional faced the dreaded dance-off for a second week in a row following the hit dance show's Movie Week special. The pair danced off against former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson and his partner Karen Hauer during the second results show of the BBC One dance contest's 2024 series on Sunday night (October 6).

Toyah and Neil performed their samba to the song Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid a second time before Paul and Karen repeated their cha cha to the Magnificent Seven theme before the judges cast their votes.

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Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke all chose to save Paul and Karen, automatically sending Toyah and Neil home, with head judge Shirley Ballas then agreeing she would also have saved the former England international.

When asked by co-host Tess Daly about their time on the show, Toyah said: "It's been the best two months of my life, it has been fantastic. I have enjoyed every second. And you (Neil) have been phenomenal, thank you so much."

Neil also said: "She has made me laugh so much, I have never seen someone work so hard - I'm the one asking for breaks every now and then! She just kept going, she wanted to learn so much. If you saw her in the hallway she’s been practicing.

"Everyone’s been telling me have you seen Toyah practising, she’s brilliant and she’s what Strictly is all about, and I’ve loved every moment."

Now, on behalf of Betfair Slingo, body language and behavioural expert Darren Stanton says music legend Toyah flashed a 'fake smile' in the moments leading up to her departure, giving signals that she knew she would be departing, but he notes Toyah often 'suppressed her emotions' leading to a lack of connection with Neil.

He also shared: "There was a moment as the results came in where Neil was speaking in her ear, giving some sort of solace, but Toyah was not acknowledging it. She was in a state of anticipation waiting for the moment to end. They didn’t really have a great dynamic or great rapport, and that’s what has cost them here.

"I think Neil feels absolutely mortified here. They have an Olympic-esque mindset towards their craft. He was doing an expression with his lips as if he was holding his breath. They’ve all got professional pride and I just feel he was disappointed to have been voted off so early. They take it as a dent against their professional tuition."

Darren added that the relationship between the dancer and singer was not the strongest, saying: "The moment the result is about to be announced, a tense moment, Toyah has her hands in front of her, Neil has his hands on his hips. Generally, at times like this, they would likely have an arm around each other.

"Toyah has not been very good at connecting, and although she says she did, I don’t believe she has been able to build a deep relationship with her pro dancer. You’ve got to have that passion and be able to demonstrate it. This was the most tense moment of the competition, and she’s not showing any emotion. Instead, she is suppressing it, which is something she’s learnt to do, she’s holding in a lot."

However, Neil seems to disagree as he said during an appearance on Strictly spin-off It Takes Two that he and Toyah were going to remain in contact "for life" now after they had had "so much fun" and laughter during rehearsals. He said: "We’ve had really great conversations as well, and it was so nice to hear you’ve been waiting so long to do the show and it’s brilliant when she came to the show and she asked for me, that meant a lot to me."