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Who is John Nellis? Meet Strictly Come Dancing 2026 contestant and YouTuber
He's used to talking about football, but can he make the glitterball his first trophy?
BBC/Guy Levy
- Tilly Pearce
Published: Friday, 30 October 2026 at 1:04 pm
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John Nellis has made a name for himself interviewing some of the biggest stars in football, but now the spotlight is on him as he has joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing.
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Last weekend, John and pro partner Katya Jones were high up on the leaderboard, earning an impressive 32 points and securing third place.
With Halloween week bringing another test on the dancefloor, John will be hoping to keep that momentum and secure his spot in the competition for another week.
But just who is John Nellis and how will the football fan fare as the competition really amps up? Read on for everything you need to know.
Who is John Nellis?
John Nellis. BBC/Ray Burmiston/BBC Creative
Age: 33
Job: YouTuber / content creator
Instagram: @johnnellis
Partner: Katya Jones
John Nellis is one of the UK’s biggest sports content creators, with a combined audience of more than 20 million followers.
His videos have amassed billions of views and featured some of the biggest sporting names, including Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Cristiano Ronaldo. And in 2024, he won Sport Creator of the Year at the TikTok Awards UK & Ireland.
In 2022, he quit his job as an air traffic controller at Cork Airport, where he'd worked for eight years. During the pandemic, Nellis had more time to work on his hobby of making videos and he soon took the leap to make it his full-time job. At the time he had 7,431 subscribers and now he has 16 million!
"I went from a big, serious stressful job and then into the dream job, very quickly," he told BBC News NI in 2022. "When no planes were flying I had so much more time to put into editing and thinking of ideas. It just spiralled."
"When I look back, I label myself as delusional. I don't know how any channel with as few subscribers as I had, in their right mind, would quit the job I had," he added.
John Nellis' Strictly journey so far
Scoreboard
Week 1: Foxtrot (7 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 31)
Week 2: Couple's Choice (4 + 5 + 7 + 7 = 23 = 54)
Week 3: Cha Cha (4 + 5 + 5 + 6 = 20)
Week 4: Paso Doble (6 + 7 + 8 + 8 = 29)
Week 5: Quickstep (7 + 8 + 8 + 9 = 32)
What has John Nellis said about Strictly Come Dancing?
Katya Jones and John Nellis. BBC/Guy Levy
"I keep laughing in disbelief," John said of joining Strictly. "I keep realising the magnitude of it and getting a bit nervous. I keep saying to my wife how surreal it all is. I keep kind of going, 'This is mad.' So, nervous but ridiculously excited."
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday 31 October at 6:30pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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Authors
Tilly PearceFreelance Writer
Tilly Pearce is a freelance TV journalist whose coverage ranges from reality shows like Love Is Blind to sci-fi shows like Fallout. She is an NCTJ Gold Standard accredited journalist, who has previously worked as Deputy TV Editor (maternity cover) at Digital Spy, and Deputy TV & Showbiz Editor at Daily Express US.
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