Strictly’s Katya Jones broke down in tears (Image: BBC)

Katya Jones recently broke down in tears and claimed that she’s had a “tough run” on Strictly Come Dancing. The professional dancer, 36, appeared on It Takes Two after she and her celebrity partner, Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope, 30, were eliminated from the competition in Saturday’s dance-off. The dancing duo were forced to leave the show.

Former Strictly star Vincent Simone has addressed the pair’s exit as he admitted his “heart broke” following the show results. Viewers claimed Katya and Lewis were “robbed” of their place in the semi-final.

The pair found themselves in the dance-off against West End star Amber Davies and her professional partner, Nikita Kuzmin, who secured a place in the semi-finals.

Cope’s elimination came just a week after he topped the leaderboard and triumphed in the series’ first Instant Dance challenge. He was also the first star to get a perfect score of 40 earlier in the series.

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Katya Jones and Lewis Cope were voted out of Strictly (Image: BBC)

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk on behalf of Paddy Power, Vincent commented: “He’ll be missed. My heart broke a little when they left.

I know Katya well and I know how hard it must have been – when you have a talented partner the pressure doubles because you don’t want to let them down or let the audience down. So, I felt for both. But the public loves a ‘journey’, and that’s just how it goes.”

He continued: “Lewis is a trained dancer, but his style is stiff, slick and hard. Rumba and salsa need softness, a slouchy, almost pedestrian feel, and there was no way he could develop that in such a short time. His background paralysed him in those styles.

Salsa didn’t suit him, and Rumba didn’t either. He was never going to be good enough at those dances.”

Speaking on It Takes Two, Cope reflected on his journey, stating: “We’re just trying to focus on the positives, really. It’s been an amazing 11 weeks, and of course, it hurts, and it’ll take a bit of time to get over, but I’m really proud of what we’ve done.

“It’s not really about dancing or anything. You (Jones) have made me fall in love with dance, but you’ve also made me fall in love with life again. So thank you.”