Strictly Come Dancing's Neil Jones has been tattooing himself during lockdown

Strictly Come Dancing star Neil Jones has revealed the new skill he learned during lockdown: tattooing, which he has been practising on his own skin.

The professional dancer added to his repertoire by buying himself a tattooing machine as a birthday present to himself and has been using it to ink his own sketches on to his body.

Read more: Janette Manrara quits Strictly and joins spin-off It Takes Two

Jones, 39, told OK! magazine: "I love to draw and I’ve always designed my own tattoos, and then during lockdown I started learning how to tattoo.

"I’ve been practising on my own skin as I got myself the machine as a birthday present. I started with a smiley face and then I started an A4-size piece on my left leg but I haven’t finished that yet."

Watch: Neil Jones and Katya Jones 'haven't started the divorce process'

Jones, who has split from wife and fellow Strictly star Katya Jones, added that some of the show's other pro dancers had agreed he could ink them – including tattoo fan Gorka Marquez.

He said: "I’ve said to a few of my friends if they’re happy to get a small tattoo then I’ll give it a go on them, and even Gorka was joking that I could tattoo him!"

But although he's been filling his time constructively with his new hobby over the past year, Jones admitted he had found life in lockdown very tough.

Asked during the interview when the last time he'd cried was, he said it had been during lockdown. He said he'd found the latest lockdown the worst, sharing that he had "cried with happiness when things started opening up again".

Read more: Anneka Rice left 'broken and depressed' by Strictly experience

Jones was asked what the most expensive thing he had bought was, and revealed that he had once spent £800 on a tomahawk steak in Hong Kong.

The big-hearted celebrity said he'd later returned to the restaurant and bought some of his dance students the same £800 steak as a thank you for paying him to be their teacher.

Watch: Kourtney Kardashian tattoos Travis Barker's arm with love note