Ekaterina Andreevna Sokolova commonly known as Katya Jones is a Russian professional dancer and choreographer. Although she comes from a wealthy family, she crafted her own dreams to achieve the celebrity status she now enjoys. From an early age, she was very obsessed with dancing and as such, it is therefore not surprising that she decided to pursue it later. With the proper support, encouragement and care, Katya is currently living her dreams as a professional dancer in Blackpool. In 2016, she gained international recognition through her involvement in the 2016 dance competition, Strictly Come Dancing.
Katya Jones Biography
Katya Jones was born on May 12, 1989 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Saint Petersburg, Russia) as Ekaterina Andreevna Sokolova. She is a Russian of mixed ethnicity. Little is known about her early childhood except that she enjoyed dancing from an early age. At the age of 6, she began her dance training, but this was limited to Latin American dance and ballroom dancing. She graduated as a professional pianist from St. Petersburg University of Culture and Arts (formerly Leningrad University).
Her first dance partner came in the form of a boyshe met at school – Evgeny Urazgildeev. According to multiple sources, he was her dance partner from 2003 to 2007. They both competed as a duo in several dance shows in Germany and Ireland, at youth level. It is, however, important to note that his second and last partner in Russia was Igor Astafiev. , the pair broke up in 2008 when they traveled to Blackpool for a dance competition. As a result, she had no choice but to partner with an unknown Neil Jones. His partnership with Jones was successful, winning four British National Championships and three Latin Amateur World Championships.
Her big break, however, came in 2016 when she was cast as a professional dancer on the TV show Strictly Come Dancing, where she teamed up with Ed Balls and finished sixth. They were, however, nominated for a must-see TV moment for their incredible Gangnam-style dance moves. The following year, she won the competition in partnership with Joe McFadden
Husband – Neil Jones
To most of us, Neil Jones is simply known as husband of Katya Jones. However, he is also a professional British dancer who was born on May 4, 1982 in the British Army Camp in Munster, West Germany. He started dancing at the age of three, before specializing in different dance styles.
He met his wife and current dance partner Katya Jones in 2008 in Blackpool at a dance competition she was supposed to enter alongside Igor Astafiev. . Unfortunately, due to poor logistics, they split. She was, however, asked to partner with Neil in order to participate. Seeing Neil, she felt a surge of attraction; it was only a matter of time before the two officially started dating. They finally tied the knot in 2013.
Earlier in 2018, their marriage was put to the test when Katya was filmed passionately kissing fellow Strictly Come Dancing star Sean Walsh at a nightclub in Marylebone, London. This caused a lot of controversy and comments among fans, with some even clamoring for them to be cast out of the show. Sean later apologized for his actions, saying it was just a drunken moment between them and that he was truly sorry for what he had done.
The couple separated from each other for a while but Neil eventually forgave her. According to him, although hurt seeing pictures of his wife kissing Sean, his love for her would not let him end their beautiful marriage. The two are still very happy together. Katya recently revealed her plans to have a baby with Neil very soon.
Interesting family facts
While we can never reveal the full identity of each member of his family, here are 5 fast facts you should know about his family.
1. She comes from a family that was deported by Josef Stalin several years before World War II and forced to walk about 4900 km to escape the genocide. Her maternal grandfather Octavian was born en route to Kazakhstan in 1936.
2. She grew up in a very wealthy and prosperous household. Katya’s father is a millionaire and a senior executive of the multi-billion dollar energy-generating company, Gazprom.
3 Like their daughter, Katya Jones’ parents are also graduates of Leningrad State University. His Korean mother graduated from university in architecture and civil engineering in 1987. In contrast, his father studied at the same law school as Russian President Vladimir Putin.
4. Although Katya is the only professional dancer in her family, she’s not the only one dancing. His older brother, Andreï, is known to be very good at Tango dancing.
5 Katya Jones comes from a loving and supportive family. As a child, she was always supported by her parents, siblings and grandparents no matter what decision was made. Her parents funded her dancing career by buying her dance dresses worth several thousand dollars. Her paternal grandmother also greatly supported her dancing career, even going so far as to accompany her to several competitions abroad.