Strictly star Robin Windsor ‘slipped deeper and deeper right into a despair’ after he was dropped from present, ex-dancing companion Lisa Riley tells inquest

Robin Windsor ‘slipped deeper and deeper into a depression‘ after being dropped from Strictly Come Dancing, an inquest heard from heartbroken best friend Lisa Riley.

The professional Latin and Ballroom dancer, who featured on four series between 2010 and 2013, was found dead at the Hoxton hotel in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, on February 19 2024.

His body was discovered by a receptionist after he failed to check out, with police later finding two suicide notes.

In the first, to a friend, he laid bare how losing his job on Strictly ‘destroyed me’. The second was to his ex, actor Ollie Augustin, who he told: ‘I need you to understand that this is not your fault!’

A post-mortem ruled that he most likely died from a drugs and alcohol overdose.

An inquest at West London Coroner’s Court was opened by HM assistant coroner Dr Anton van Dellen this week and jurors heard statements from witnesses including Strictly and Emmerdale star Ms Riley today.

Mr Windsor partnered with Ms Riley in 2012 and in other series with model Patsy Kensit, EastEnders legend Anita Dobson and Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden during his time on the show.

But he missed the 2014 series while he recovered from a back injury which resulted in him needing surgery to remove a disc.

He was then dropped by the BBC in 2015 after TV bosses chose not to renew his contract.

In a statement read to the jury by the coroner, Loose Women star Ms Riley said: ‘It was from this moment on to the time of his death, he kept slipping and slipping deeper into a depression,’ she said. ‘His glow had gone.’

Ms Riley said money also played a major role in his darker days and that he was ‘drowning in debts’ from frantically buying designer clothes he could not afford.

She said Windsor would come and stay with her in Leeds and that she offered to pay for ‘endless therapy’.

Her statement continued: ‘His state of mind has always been very unstable.’ She said keeping himself busy was a ‘mask to his real feelings as he told me’.

‘The Christmas before he died, I flew to New York like I always do for Christmas holidays,’ she continued, adding: ‘This was our last contact, I spoke to him before we flew and we texted over Christmas.

‘The late replies became normal, I remember seeing a really dark Facebook post. I texted him straight away and he replied he was fine, just the usual ups and downs of life.’

Describing their friendship, Ms Riley said: ‘I have known Robin since we got paired together as dance partners for BBC programme Strictly Come Dancing.

‘The year was mid-August 2012, to say we hit it off was an understatement, we were literally joined at the hip.

‘I had only just lost my mum in the July – I myself was in a very fragile place – Robin was my rock, my best friend, but also the most loyal person when I was grieving the most.

‘We more or less spent every day together from the date above to the entire series and went straight on tour until late February before he went onto the West End’s Burn The Floor.’

‘Each weekend, we would socialise with his current boyfriend at the time, Davide.

‘Every time when we spoke we built up this incredible trust, he literally told me everything. I trusted him, he trusted me.’

‘There were many happy times to begin with. Together we had so much fun. He told me of times never feeling good enough, like he felt he had imposter syndrome, that he wanted to fall in love.

‘I sensed from very early on in friendship that having a long, loving, trusting partner was something not only craved, but needed.

‘One night he opened more than others, telling me of the horrific time he was molested by an old dance tutor and that he felt his own parents never really understood this nor did they come to his rescue when he was most vulnerable.’

It was at this point that Robin ‘escaped to London’ and became involved in the nightclub and drag scene, Ms Riley said.

She said Robin was ‘always very influenced by other men’ and it became a ‘standing joke that he fell in love after three days’.

‘He was buying endless expensive gifts, staying in lavish hotels and dining at the best restaurants,’ she said.

‘Nothing was more flamboyant when I said, ‘I want to treat you to a holiday’, he said, ‘Let’s go to New York and I will get engaged to Davide’ – his then boyfriend when we started Strictly.

‘For the first time in his life he seemed accepted. He seemed so happy this time. It only lasted 11 weeks before they broke up.’

‘I do know body image played an enormous part in Robin’s insecurities. He took steroids for body shape, mixed with plenty of alcohol that put his headspace in a very dark space.

‘Robin came across like he was full of fun but I knew he was endlessly pressing the bravado button. He would be all smiles to the public. When it was just me and him on his own, he would be very depressed and let a lot of his worries flow.’

Ms Riley said that it ‘seemed to always concern relationships’ and that he ‘craved to be loved’.

‘I told him he was covering his true feelings with party recreational drugs.’

She said when they went on an opening tour, he threatened to not go on stage after ‘another failing relationship’ saw a boyfriend break up with him.

‘He was in a really, really dark place. He was saying if I was not here no one would know or miss me. We explained at length, this was not true,’ she said.

Windsor debuted in Strictly Come Dancing in 2010 alongside professional partner Kristina Rihanoff – a long-term relationship which saw them dance all over the world.

Ms Riley burst into tears as she told the inquest that Mr Windsor ‘changed significantly’ after his back injury

She added that not being able to do what he loved had a ‘very severe’ psychological impact on him and that the show was a ‘very lonely space with not much support’.

Jurors also heard from witnesses Mick George, Terry Gleed, Scott Garnham, Tazi Amey and Scott Coldwell who have all previously worked with Robin.

Before his death, Robin had starred in a pantomime production of Aladdin, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, in December 2023.

Producer Mr George, who had worked with Robin on four occasions over the years, told jurors: ‘It was a huge surprise and a huge shock, it was very soon after we’d been working.’

When asked if he was aware that Robin was on ‘suicide watch’ during the pantomime, he replied: ‘Absolutely not, that’s the first I’ve heard of that.’

Mr Gleed, who said he was with Robin every day for the show’s month-long run, told jurors how the dancer would ‘continuously’ look at his phone watching Strictly – some eight years after he was dropped.

‘I could tell he really wanted to be there more than where we were,’ he said. ‘He missed it dearly.’

But he said he never received any indication Robin wanted to take his own life, adding: ‘I never felt any sadness or that I needed to give him a hug. I never felt there was any sad emotion being emitted by him where there was a necessity to give him an embrace to secure his nerves.’

He revealed that Robin would regularly blast Sweden’s 1991 Eurovision song Take Me to Your Heaven.

Ms Amey was a stage manager on the Aladdin production and would go for drinks after work with Windsor and the show’s protagonist at Wetherspoons each day.

She said Robin would only ever have two or three glasses of wine which never impacted his performance.

But recalling one conversation, she said: ‘We were talking about music that was important in my life and he said he knew what song he wanted at his funeral, which was Only the Good Die Young.’

And Mr Coldwell, a choreographer and director of Come What May who first met Robin in 2018, told jurors: ‘I could tell early on he was complex, emotional, he wore his heart on his sleeve.’

The witness told how they started off as colleagues but quickly became friends.

Robin would long to have the respect of fellow dancers, Mr Coldwell said, recalling how he would buy drinks for everyone portraying an ‘I am Robin from Strictly Come Dancing’ demeanour.

Asked if they spoke about his mental health, Mr Coldwell said: ‘It started off with general check-ins, how are you Robin? What’s going on? How are you feeling? I was always under the impression, which is a regret of mine now, because he spoke about those things I felt he knew he needed the help and was seeking the help.

‘We would discuss his mental health, he would just say I want things in his diary to be sorted. He did say he was desperate to go back on the show. He understood it wasn’t a possibility, but I feel he appealed to go back a couple of times but clearly those weren’t successful.’

The inquest was also told yesterday that PC Emily Hampson attending the scene found two notes near his body.

In the first, addressed to a friend, Mr Windsor wrote that this ‘all really started when I lost my job on Strictly’.

He added: ‘The way they treated me destroyed me…It started me on the road I’m still on. All I wanted from life was to be happy.

‘I loved my job more than anyone else.’

He added that he now permanently lives in a ‘dark place’ and that he can’t go on ‘living like this anymore’.

In a second note, to his ex Ollie Augustin, Mr Windsor, said that he wanted him to know that this was ‘not your fault’.

From the age of three, Windsor studied Latin and Ballroom and his talent and commitment to his vocation took him to the highest level of competition where he won numerous World Championships.

He joined the cast of show Burn The Floor in 2001 and toured the world for 10 years, with a nine-month run on Broadway.

He got his TV break on Strictly in 2010 but was forced to pull out of the series in 2014 due to a slipped disc which left him paralysed for four days.

While he never won the Glitterball Trophy, he came seventh with Patsy Kensit and Anita Dobson.

Windsor also appeared in Dancing With The Stars Australia and So You Think You Can Dance in the Netherlands and assisted in the choreography for the Australian version of So You Think You Can Dance, as well as acting as a motivational speaker.

Robin was previously engaged to ex-partner Davide Cini and proposed on a romantic New York helicopter ride in 2013 before splitting years later.

He also previously dated Marcus Collins, a singer who featured on The X Factor in 2011.

For confidential support, call Samaritans on 116 123, visit samaritans.org or visit thecalmzone.net/get-support.