We're generally well behaved human beings here at Closer, but we'll come out and say this - we unapologetically LOVE reality show rule breaks.
So much so that we were genuinely feeling a tad sad that Love Island is now over as a good two thirds of our Love Island content centres around Islanders breaking rules and getting told off by producers.
So imagine our excitement when we got whiff of a fresh new batch of stars breaking rules on another reality obsession of ours; we didn't physically do the cha cha, but the excitements vibes were at that level.
In a tounge-in-cheek post on his Instagram Story, Strictly Come Dancing (that's the show, by the way - we assumed our cha cha gag covered that seamlessly) professional Neil Jones revealed a harsh new Strictly professionals rule we had no idea existed.
Neil recently shared a video of him and his fellow professionals (some new, some old) – including Kai Widdrington, Nadiya Bychkova, Carlos Gu (a new professional), Nikita Kuzmin, Graziano Di Prima, Cameron Lombard – chilling out on a stairwell (some even catching a nap) during what we can only assume is a rehearsal break.
Neil then panned his phone to a sign on a door which read, "Please do not sit in the hallways and do not block the stairs. Thank you!"
Naughty, naughty. Okay, so not strictly a major Strictly rule break, but still - rules are rules, and luckily, it appears that this lot are ready and willing to break them.
The Strictly professionals are currently rehearsing for this year's series launch, which is sooner than you might think; the series launch is scheduled for 7 September, which let's just take a moment to absorb is next month. As such, the Strictly professionals have most likely gathered to rehearse their opening number together (not to mention give that building's fire marshal a coronary).
The BBC series will film a pre-recorded launch show on the Wednesday 7 September, meaning we are likely to see the professionals getting paired up with their celebs on Saturday 10 September.
This means Christmas is right around the corner, which is fine with us, because we're still not over that heatwave.
Neil Jones has has danced on the BBC series since 2016 and was first paired up with a celebrity in 2019. In 2020, Neil took a break from partnering but returned in 2021 with Nina Wadia for the 19th series of the show.
Neil was famously married to former Strictly professional Katya Jones, but the pair called it quits on their marriage in 2019 following an apparent affair that she had with co-star Seann Walsh. The two were seen kissing on the street despite both being in relationships.
Last year, EastEnders icon Rose Ayling-Ellis made history when she joined the 2021 lineup as Strictly's first ever deaf contestant. She continued to make history by dancing all the way to the top, lifting the Glitterball trophy with her Pro partner Giovanni Pernice, after winning the series.