Friends launched frantic three-day hunt for Strictly star Robin Windsor before he 'was found dead in hotel in London'
22 February 2024, 05:20
Friends of Strictly star Robin Windsor searched for him for three days before he was found dead in a hotel room in London.
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The professional dancer, who performed on Strictly Come Dancing from 2010-2013, died aged 44, it was announced on Tuesday.
Windsor had been working on a luxury cruise ship at the start of the year and had talked publicly about his travels.
But just days after he arrived back in London, he was found dead in a hotel. It is not known how he died.
His friend, fellow Strictly star Vincent Simone, said that Windsor would often disappear for days at a time, adding that it was an "ongoing" problem. The two had known each other since they were 17.
Simone told the Mirror: "He would detach himself from people for two or three days.
"Then he would come back to the world, to reality.
"But this time, he didn’t come back. He was the best man I ever met."
Windsor had talked about something that had gone on over New Year, but wouldn't say what it was, according to a friend.
"He sounded absolutely traumatised – whatever had happened must have been truly awful," they told the Mail.
Windsor's ballroom dance group Burn the Floor, which he co-founded, announced that he had died on Tuesday.
A statement read: "A BTF journeyman he danced with us for twenty years - including Broadway, The West End and all our crazy adventures around the world.
"His stunning image attached with Jessica Raffa defined our company, colourful, extreme and sensual.
"His talent, attitude, energy and personality helped create the Burn the Floor stage reputation.
"He leaves a void in our hearts that will never be filled, yet our wonderful memories will stay forever."
Windsor's former Strictly partner, Kristina Rihanoff, said he had been in "excruciating pain" before his death.
She said his personality changed after he was dropped from Strictly following a back injury, highlighting that a dancer's career can be quite short.
"His own spirit was absolutely destroyed when he was dropped from Strictly and that’s where I started to see changes in his personality, depression and broken self worth," she said.
"While we went on to do many shows tours gigs & appearances together he was struggling more and more with instability of work and excruciating back pain because of the injury he had suffered during Strictly.
"Sadly, us dancers, always neglect our health because we always after the next gig, the next job and he just couldn’t look after his injury properly until there was nothing left to do but have an operation which also put him out of work for quite some time.
"Unfortunately 'stage life' of a dancer is short and nobody really cares because there is always the next person who can take your place and that’s the ugly truth. He often would say that he doesn’t know where he’s going and what’s will be next."
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