When did Neil Jones and Chyna Mills get engaged? What did Strictly star say about proposal and baby reveal

Neil Jones and Chyna Mills have announced they are engaged and expecting their first child.

The Strictly professional dancer and reality star shared the news with fans in an interview with Hello Magazine, with the couple sharing they are ‘on cloud nine’. They have been together for seven months after Jones sent her a message on Instagram after watching her on ITV2’s Love Island.

Jones kept his proposal a secret but did share his plans with friend TV presenter and former Strictly contestant Tyler West. So when did Neil Jones and Chyna Mills get engaged, what have they said about their baby news and when did they start dating? Here’s everything you need to know.

When did Neil Jones and Chyna Mills get engaged?

The couple announced they were engaged and expecting their first child in an interview with Hello Magazine on Sunday 2 April. Mills also revealed the news on social media, sharing the image from the article, alongside the caption “I feel like I’m dreaming”.

What have they said about the engagement and baby reveal?

In an interview with Hello Magazine, Mills shared that the couple “were on cloud nine” adding that “It still doesn’t feel real”. The former youth support worker turned model and content creator is 13 weeks pregnant and shared how Jones had popped the question.

Jones shared that he had been planning the proposal whilst on the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour earlier this year. He said: “I’d already planned to ask Chyna to marry me before we knew she was pregnant. Then we found out and I was like: ‘Oh, this is brilliant, everything is coming together’”.

Mills continued: “At first, I thought he was joking because we play jokes on each other all the time. Then Neil was like: ‘Chyna, so is it a ‘yes’ or ‘no?’ because a few minutes had passed and he was still on one knee. I was like: ‘Yeah!’”

The Strictly professional dancer had let someone else in on his plan, his friend TV presenter and former Strictly contestant Tyler West, who was one of the first people to know the couple’s happy news. Jones said: “We FaceTimed him, then said: ‘We just sent you something on WhatsApp’ – it was a picture of the baby scan. He looked and said: ‘I’m going to cry, this is everything... I’m gonna be that crazy Jamaican uncle.’ It was the best reaction.”

However, the couple aren’t in a rush to tie the knot, instead they want their bundle of joy to be involved in the big day. With Jones explaining: “We thought it would be cute if the baby can be walking around at the wedding.”

When did they start dating?

The couple started dating last summer after Jones slid into Mills’ Instagram DMs after watching her in ITV2’s Love Island. They first met in person at a party and have been together for seven months.

Before embarking on a relationship with Mills, Jones was previously in a relationship with Strictly professional dancer Katya Jones for 11 years. The couple got married in 2013, but it ended in divorce in 2019 soon after the dancer made headlines for sharing a kiss with Strictly contestant comedian Seann Walsh.