Strictly Come Dancing professional Katya Jones took a moment to once again defend her celebrity partner Wynne Evans during a joint appearance on spin-off show It Takes Two.
During Saturday’s live show, the pair found themselves at the centre of controversy when Wynne was spotted moving his hand across Katya’s middle while another celebrity was being interviewed, to which she promptly moved it away.
Viewers also spotted another seemingly frosty moment between the two when Katya rejected Wynne’s attempts to give her a high-five.
Oh. My. God. ???? #Strictlypic.twitter.com/qgnjzj6Xq7
— Andrew McBride (@andrewmcb) October 12, 2024
That look???????? the fakeness slipped. pic.twitter.com/QbRZPRPtdl
— Neil Shedden (@Shedden29) October 12, 2024
In the days since, they have both apologised for the incident, which they have said was a “silly joke” gone awry, while Katya has repeatedly defended Wynne.
On Monday night, she began their interview on It Takes Two with a message for viewers.
“Can I please get something out of the way that I feel overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason?” Katya said.
“I quite frankly can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further away from the truth.”
She added: “I have to make this absolutely clear that this whole incident with the hand and the high five on Saturday night – it was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes. Was it a bad joke? Yes.”
“Even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense and those that have doubts, you guys have got it wrong,” she insisted. “So, hopefully this will be the end of it.”
Wynne also addressed the incident during Monday’s edition of his BBC Wales show, telling his listeners: “I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.
“Basically, Katya and I are really, really close and we’re really good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke. It was a stupid joke that went wrong, OK? We thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted.”
This weekend, Wynne and Katya will perform their fifth routine in the Strictly ballroom, after sailing through to the next stage of the contest in Sunday’s results show.
Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.25pm on BBC One.
