The actor and his professional dance partner have made it through to the quarter-final of the BBC One dance contest
Strictly Come Dancing’s Lewis Cope and Katya Jones(Image: Lewis Cope TikTok)
Lewis Cope has shared an adorable message about make a ‘friend for life’ in Katya Jones as they hope to continue their Strictly Come Dancing journey with a couple of weeks to go until the final.
The actor and his professional dance partner have had quite the time on the dance floor, becoming the first couple to score the first 40 of the series, and have since picked up the perfect score again from the judges thanks to their spectacular routines.
On Saturday night (December 6), they’ll return to the dance floor as the BBC One dance contest’s 2025 series reaches the quarter-final stage, which also happens to be the annual Musicals Week.
Lewis, who is best known for playing Nicky Milligan in Emmerdale, and Katya will perform a Salsa to Dance At The Gym from West Side Story in a bid to make it through to next weekend’s semi-final, the penultimate week of Strictly’s 23rd series.
But that won’t be the only time they appear on the ballroom floor, as it was previously confirmed that all five remaining couples in the competition will kick off the latest live show with a dance relay.
The dancers will showcase a five-minute routine, choreographed by Matt Flint, that will see reality TV star Amber and her dance partner Nikita perform to Trip A Little Light Fantastic from the musical Mary Poppins Returns.
In a relay-style, EastEnders actress Balvinder and pro dancer Julian Caillon will perform a routine to With A Little Bit Of Luck from My Fair Lady, followed by social media star George and pro Alexis, who will dance to Consider Yourself from Oliver! Former Lioness Karen Carney and her partner Carlos Gu will dance to a song from Half A Sixpence called Flash Bang Wallop, while Lewis and Katya will perform a dance to Me Ol’ Bamboo from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
But ahead of their next performance, Lewis took to his TikTok account and joined in a viral trend in which people look back at how one of their decisions has changed their lives – mainly for the better.
Lewis shared the sweet messages on social media(Image: Lewis Cope TikTok)
Across Lewis’ video, which featured videos of his and Katya’s recent visit to his home town of Hartlepool, where they were switching on the Christmas lights, the former soap star wrote: “In your thirties you will be asked to go on Strictly Come Dancing. It’s very important you say yes because you will make a friend for life and get to share your love for Hartlepool, your home town, with the entire world.”
Captioning the post, Lewis wrote: “I’ll never take this experience for granted.” And Katya was quick to respond, as she wrote in the comments section: “I’m so glad the world gets to see your talent and what a wonderful person you are.”
It comes after Lewis wasn’t originally part of Strictly’s 2025 line-up, having been drafted in after the 15 celebrities were announced due to Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn having to pull out due to medical reasons before the series got underway.
