Katya Jones (born Ekaterina Andreevna Sokolova; rus, Екатерина Андреевна Соколова; 12 May 1989) is a

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

and

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

. She is best-known for being a professional dancer in the competition show ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', which she won in 2017 with her dance partner

Joe McFadden Joseph McFadden (born 9 October 1975) is a Scottish actor best known for his roles in ''The Crow Road,'' '' Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll, Heartbeat'' and '' Holby City.'' McFadden won the 2017 series of the BBC One series '' Strictly Come Dancing ...

. In the 2020 series, Jones was paired with the retired professional and Olympic champion boxer

Nicola Adams Nicola Virginia Adams (born 26 October 1982) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2017 to 2019. She retired with an undefeated record and held the WBO female flyweight title in 2019. As an amateur, she became the first fe ...

, the first same-sex couple to compete in the UK competition's format.

Early life

She was born in

Sestroretsk Sestroretsk (russian: Сестроре́цк; fi, Siestarjoki; sv, Systerbäck) is a municipal town in Kurortny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland, the Sestra River an ...

, near

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Soviet Union, and started dancing at the age of six, training in gymnastics as well as Ballroom and Latin-American dancing. Her father is a senior oil company executive and her Korean mother is a graduate in engineering.

''Strictly Come Dancing''

In 2016, Jones became a professional in the BBC ballroom dancing show ''

'' for its 14th series. Jones was partnered with the former

Shadow chancellor The Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in the British Parliamentary system is the member of the Shadow Cabinet who is responsible for shadowing the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The title is given at the gift of the Leader of the Opposition and ...

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exc ...

. For the 15th series, Jones partnered the ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' actor,

. and they were the series winners. For the 16th series, Jones partnered the comedian

Seann Walsh Sean Christopher Walsh (born 2 December 1985), known professionally as Seann Walsh, is an English stand-up comedian. Early life Walsh was born in Camden in London, but was brought up in Brighton. He left school with one GCSE examination pas ...

and for the 17th series, she was partnered with the BBC sports presenter,

Mike Bushell Mike Bushell is an English sports presenter for the BBC. He presents the sport on ''BBC Breakfast'' on Thursdays, Fridays and at the weekends, and sometimes on other weekdays. Bushell holds the world record for participating in the greatest num ...

. For the 18th series, she was part of the show's first same-sex couple, with the professional boxer

. They withdrew from the competition on 12 November, after Jones tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She was partnered with the Olympic swimmer

Adam Peaty Adam George Peaty (born 28 December 1994) is an English competitive swimmer who specialises in the breaststroke. He won the gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first by a male British swimmer in 24 years, ...

for the 19th series.

Highest and lowest scoring performances per dance

Performances with Ed Balls

She partnered the politician

for the 14th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. ;* number indicates Ed and Katya were at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Performances with Joe McFadden

She partnered the Scottish actor

for the 15th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. ;* number indicates Joe and Katya were at the top of the leaderboard.

Performances with Seann Walsh

She partnered the comedian and actor

for the 16th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. ;* number indicates Seann and Katya were at the bottom of the leaderboard. :

Alfonso Ribeiro Alfonso Lincoln Ribeiro (born September 21, 1971) is an American actor, comedian and television host. He is best known for his roles as Alfonso Spears on the sitcom ''Silver Spoons'', Carlton Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ...

filled in for Tonioli

Performances with Mike Bushell

She partnered the television presenter

for the 17th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. * number indicates Mike and Katya were at the bottom of the leaderboard. :

filled in for Tonioli

Performances with Nicola Adams

She partnered the boxer

for the 18th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. They had to leave the competition after week 3 when Jones tested positive for COVID-19.

Performances with Adam Peaty

From September 2021, Jones was a contestant on the 19th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'', partnered by the Olympic swimmer

. They reached week 7, coming ninth.

Performances with Tony Adams

From September 2022, Jones was a contestant on the 20th series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'', partnered by former England men's association football captain

Tony Adams Tony Alexander Adams (born 10 October 1966) is an English former football manager and player. Adams played for Arsenal and England, captaining both teams. He spent his entire playing career of 19 years as a centre back at Arsenal, making 672 ...

. On week 8, they were announced as one of the bottom two couples. However, they did not compete in the dance-off due to Tony sustaining a hamstring injury, subsequently leading him to withdraw from the competition. This meant Jones became the first professional dancer on the show to have a partner who withdrew twice. * number indicates Tony and Katya were at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Tour

Jones took part in the national ''Strictly Come Dancing - The Live Tour'' in 2017. In 2021, it was announced she would be appearing with Neil Jones at Donahey's Dancing with The Stars Weekends in 2022.

Other TV appearances

In 2021, Jones appeared on CBBC's ''Saturday Mash Up'' where she was "super slimed", being covered in 20 buckets of gunge after a vote by viewers. In March 2022, she appeared in the show again and was gunged for a second time, in what was described as one of the biggest super slimes ever. She appeared as a contestant in ''

Celebrity Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 20 ...

'' in 2022.

Stage performances

Jones starred in the dance show ''Somnium: A Dancer's Dream'', directed and choreographed by Neil Jones. The show was performed from 20 to 22 June 2019 at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

. She has also acted in various

pantomimes Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

Personal life

Jones married her boyfriend of five years, Neil Jones, a dancer and fellow cast member of ''Strictly Come Dancing'', on 3 August 2013. In October 2018, a video and photographs of Jones kissing her celebrity ''Strictly'' partner,

, were published. On 18 August 2019, Jones and her husband announced that they had separated.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Katya 1989 births Living people Russian female dancers Russian people of Korean descent Dancers from Saint Petersburg Strictly Come Dancing winners Russian activists against the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine People from Sestroretsk Russian expatriates in England