Strictly's Josh Widdicombe ridicules the show's most snubbed dancer Neil Jones after he was left without a celebrity partner again

Published: 09:05 EDT, 12 October 2026 | Updated: 09:18 EDT, 12 October 2026 Strictly host Josh Widdicombe poked fun at show veteran Neil Jones during Sunday's episode.Pro dancer Neil, who joined the BBC dance competition in 2016, has been the subject of jokes after failing to land a celebrity partner for seven of his ten years.He was last paired with singer Toyah Willcox in 2024, where they lasted only two weeks before being eliminated.Since then, Neil has had to contend with screen time via the group dances and during Sunday's results show he had a key role.The pro dancers and judges Shirley Ballas and Anton Du Beke performed a Latin vs Ballroom danceoff. Shirley and Anton were the team captains whilst fellow judge Craig Revel Horwood acted as referee. Strictly Come Dancing's new host Josh Widdicombe poked fun at show veteran Neil Jones during Sunday's show Pro dancer Neil, who joined the BBC dance competition in 2016, has been the subject of jokes after he failed to land a celebrity partner for seven of his ten years In a pre-dance segment Neil was once again ridiculed as Shirley and Anton failed to pick him for their teams, with Craig consoling him. 'It's OK darling you can be the referee' the judge told him.During the dance in the studio Neil provided the comedy, acting as Craig's sidekick and at one point playing the piano. At the end of the dance new host Josh joked: 'Can we just have a round of applause for the real star, Neil' who then walked into frame with an 'applause' sign.It was previously revealed that Neil missed filming several pre-recorded group dances after suffering an injury during rehearsals, which could explain his lack of participation in the latest routine.The show veteran addressed this year's partner snub in an Instagram video posted during the launch episode, which saw him attempting to throw a pen into a cup before it was replaced with a much bigger bin, alongside the caption 'if I get the pen in the bin I will get a celeb partner'.The dancer still missed, with fellow pro dancer Kai Widdrington, who has landed a celeb partner, catching the pen off camera.Alongside the clip, he joked: 'You know I love being part of @bbcstrictly and honestly after adding 2 Guinness World Records last year to my 45 titles around the world, I feel like it would be greedy to win the glitterball as well so I wanted to give the others a chance.'Fans and Neil's co-stars flooded the post with laughing face emojis as they praised his optimism. At the end of the dance new host Josh joked: 'Can we just have a round of applause for the real star, Neil' who then walked into frame with an 'applause' signElsewhere during this weekend's show, new host Josh came under fire from another judge as a baffled Craig Revel-Horwood asked 'what are you doing?'During week two viewers started to notice a simmering 'tension' between Motsi Mabuse and Josh, as they suggested the judge had 'had enough of the comedian interrupting her with his jokes'. However, as week three kicked off, Motsi attempted to dispel the speculation as she insisted that Josh was her 'friend'.Following Cach Mercer's routine, Josh quipped that he and Emma Willis were 'dancers' and as he directed his joke towards Motsi, she responded by remarking: 'Yes Josh, my FRIEND!'But now fans have spotted 'tension' between Josh and Craig, in scenes which awkwardly played out on air during Saturday's live show.Dani Dyer and her partner Nikita Kuzmin took to the dancefloor with a Tango this week and nervously awaited their feedback.All three judges thought Dani had shown definite improvement but needed to be a bit more stable and not get in her head so much.However, as Craig gave his feedback, Josh appeared to be making strange hand signals at him.Craig immediately asked: 'What are you doing Josh?What is that?'Josh just laughed while Craig continued with his feedback which echoed that of the other judges.Fans picked up on the awkward moment, and shared on X: 'Oooooo Craig humiliating Josh on air'.