Strictly dancer ‘drowning in debts’ and ‘glow had gone’ before tragic death, says Emmerdale star

Lisa Riley has spoken about Strictly Come Dancing star Robin Windsor during an inquest into his death

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Robin Windsor(Image: Getty Images)

Emmerdale star Lisa Riley says Robin Windsor’s ‘glow had gone’ after he was dropped from Strictly Come Dancing years before his tragic death, an inquest has heard.

Robin Windsor, who was a professional dancer on the BBC One dance show, was 44 when he was found dead in a hotel room in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, in February 2024.

He joined Strictly in 2010 and danced with actresses Patsy Kensit, Anita Dobson and Riley, and Dragon’s Den’s 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.

Riley was Windsor’s last dance partner in the penultimate series of Strictly he appeared on in 2012. After being paired with Windsor, the actress, famed for playing Mandy Dingle in ITV’s Emmerdale, said they were “joined at the hip”.

“To say we hit it off was an understatement,” she said in a written witness statement read to West London Coroner’s Court on Wednesday (February 11). “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.”

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Robin and Lisa were close friends(Image: Lisa Riley Instagram)

“It was from this moment, on to the time of his death, he kept slipping deeper and deeper into depression,” Riley said. “His glow had gone.”

She recalled how she and Windsor had built up an “incredible trust” and remained friends. “He literally told me everything,” she said. “I trusted him and he trusted me. There were many, many happy times to begin with and together we did have so much fun.”

Riley said Windsor told her of times of “never feeling good enough” and “imposter syndrome”. She explained: “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, jurors heard, and said 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.”

She said her last contact with Windsor was around Christmas 2023, when they texted after Riley saw him share a “really dark” post on Facebook. Jurors heard Riley said: “I of course text him straight away and he replied saying he was ‘fine, just usual ups and downs of life’.”