Strictly star left note saying being dropped from the show ‘destroyed me’

A Strictly Come Dancing star who was found dead in a hotel room left a note which said the way he was treated when he was dropped from the show “destroyed me”, an inquest has heard.

Professional dancer Robin Windsor was 44 when he was found dead in a hotel room in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in February 2024.

In a note police found in the room, he wrote: “This all really started when I lost my job on Strictly and have been fighting it ever since,” coroner Dr Anton van Dellen told jurors at West London Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.

The note continued: “The way they treated me destroyed me… it started me on the road I am still on.”

The Latin and ballroom dancer joined Strictly in 2010 and danced with actresses Patsy Kensit, Anita Dobson and Lisa Riley, and Dragons’ Den star Deborah Meaden in four series until 2013.

He could not perform in the 2014 series because of a back injury and was dropped in 2015, but still appeared in the Christmas special that year, dancing alongside TV presenter Alison Hammond.

A written statement from Emmerdale actress Riley, which was read to the court earlier, said that Windsor’s “glow had gone” after he was cut from the professional dancers’ line-up.

“It was from this moment, on to the time of his death, he kept slipping deeper and deeper into endless depression,” she said.

“His glow had gone.”

Riley was Windsor’s dance partner in the penultimate series he appeared on in 2012.

“To say we hit it off was an understatement,” the actress said in the statement.

“We were literally joined at the hip.

“I had only just lost my mum in the July. I, myself, was in a very difficult place. Robin was my rock.”

Riley said Windsor told her about times of “never feeling good enough” and “imposter syndrome”.

“One night he opened up, telling me of the horrific time he was molested by an old dance tutor and (he) felt his parents never really understood this,” she said.

“Robin was and always has been very influenced by other men.

“It became a standing joke that he fell in love after three days.”

Riley said Windsor was insecure about his body and took steroids, which, combined with alcohol, would put him in a bad place, and she added that he was “drowning in debts” and “frantically” spent on designer items he could not afford.

“Money problems also played a part of his darker days,” she said.

“He was drowning in debts, which led to weekends I wouldn’t hear from him.”

Summing up the evidence, Dr van Dellen read parts of a written statement by X Factor star and Windsor’s ex-boyfriend Marcus Collins, who said Windsor’s mental health had deteriorated when he was released from his contract with Strictly.

“The day that he was informed that he was no longer required for Strictly really broke his spirit,” Collins said.

“I will never forget it, as we were on holiday in New York and he was inconsolable.

“Robin’s mental health was challenged almost constantly from this point, and at times it altered his personality.”

Actor Terry Gleed, who appeared alongside Windsor in a production of Aladdin at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft in December 2023, said his co-star was “obsessed” with Strictly.

He told the inquest that the dancer, who played the Genie in the pantomime, would sit on the sidelines watching footage of the current series of the show on his phone during rest time.

“He was looking at his phone continuously, and I could feel he really wanted to be there… he missed it dearly,” Gleed told jurors.

Choreographer Scott Coldwell, who worked with Windsor on a dance show with Strictly stars called Here Come The Boys, said Windsor told him several times that he was “desperate” to go back on the hit BBC show.

In a written statement, Meaden said she last saw Windsor about a year before he died when they met for dinner, jurors previously heard.

Meaden said she was aware Windsor had experienced relationship difficulties, and she had seen him “tearful and distracted at times”.

The businesswoman said that when she last saw him, Windsor had said he planned to be on his own and put less emphasis on relationships, but Meaden said she was not sure she believed him.

Jurors also heard that Windsor had been struggling with an on-off relationship – which ended in August 2023 – with actor Ollie Augustin, who he met when they were in a stage show called Come What May, a tribute to Moulin Rouge.

Riley said her last contact with Windsor was around Christmas 2023, when they texted after she saw the dancer share a “really dark” post on Facebook.

Jurors were told that the actress said: “I of course texted him straight away and he replied saying he was ‘fine, just usual ups and downs of life’.”

Windsor was meant to feature in the Legends Of The Dance Floor tour alongside fellow dancers Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev and Ian Waite in late 2024.

He had been discussing the project with Mr Coldwell days before his death.

“Legends (the show) was going to be something that regenerated the careers (of the dancers),” Mr Coldwell said, as he recalled a phone call on February 1, 2024.

He told the court: “My last call (with Windsor) was very positive.”

The choreographer became emotional when he recalled the last time they spoke.

Windsor died on February 19, 2024 after consuming alcohol and a drug, jurors have heard.

Jurors retired to consider their conclusion on Wednesday afternoon and were later sent home to resume deliberations on Thursday morning.