Robin Windsor's final dance video shared by friend amid his 'excruciating pain'

21 February 2024 , 10:38

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Robin Windsor's final dance video has been shared by Kristina Rihanoff (Image: Getty)

Kristina Rihanoff has shared the tragic final video of herself dancing with Robin Windsor.

Strictly Come Dancing pro Robin's death, aged 44, was announced on Tuesday with loved ones and members of the extended Strictly family paying tribute to the star. His dear friend and former Strictly pro partner Kristina took to Instagram to share the final clip of the pair dancing together before his death.

She captioned the video: "Last rehearsal for @the.not.forgotten... 30th of November...If only I knew it's the last ever dance... May you dance with the angels with no more pain my friend."

It comes after Kristina took to Instagram to pay tribute to her late friend and shared an insight into this health struggles and the "excruciating pain" he suffered. She wrote: "There is no words to express the pain and devastation."

Robin and Kristina were close friends

Kristina paid tribute to Robin as she shared concerns about his health struggles

She said: "Robin wasn’t just my dance partner, he was a friend and together we shared endless experiences from our careers highlights to hitting rock bottom of rejection. When I got partnered with him on Strictly I was blown away by his kindness, lighthearted personality and amazing loyalty.

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"He had stood by me through many rough times during Strictly for which I am deeply grateful for as there was no one else to lean on. He always found the way to bring my spirit up. However 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.

"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."

The former Strictly pro went on to explain how the "stage life" of a dancer is short and the "ugly truth" of her profession can leave dancers fearing they are easily replaceable.

She continued: "Many of you, who went to see his farewell tour, know perfectly well that he spoke very openly about his mental health struggles and thoughts of a suicide. I’m sure it was devastating for anyone who love Robin to hear something like that, but those thoughts were in his head for quite many years and it’s so deeply sad that he felt that he is better to another place rather than stay here. Too much pain too much disappointment, too much neglect." (sic)

Robin's death was announced by Burn The Floor, a company in which he was a founding member, on Facebook in the early hours of this morning, with the international Ballroom & Latin dance company telling fans: "The Burn the Floor family has lost one of its founding members, Robin 'Bobby' Windsor - who has tragically passed away.

"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."

Charlotte McIntyre