Inside the highs and lows of Katya Jones’ Strictly career: From a ‘heated argument’ with one ex dance partner to THAT cheating scandal – amid ‘tensions’ with Wynne Evans

Inside the highs and lows of Katya Jones' Strictly career: From a 'heated argument' with one ex dance partner to THAT cheating scandal - amid 'tensions' with Wynne Evans

As a seasoned professional who has spent years in the public eye, I can empathize with both Katya Jones and Nigel Harman in this situation. The unpredictable nature of live television and the harshness of social media can often leave performers feeling vulnerable and misunderstood.

Katya Jones is part of the furniture on the BBC favourite Strictly Come Dancing.

In 2016, a 35-year-old Russian dancer and choreographer became a contestant on the ballroom show during its 14th season, teaming up with the previous Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls.

In the fifteenth season, Jones teamed up with actor Joe McFadden from Holby City, and they emerged as the champions of that particular series.

However, her stint on the program hasn’t been free from challenges or drama, as she found herself in the spotlight due to a heated disagreement with an former partner and, let’s not forget, the publicized infidelity incident involving Seann Walsh.

Currently, it seems like there might be growing friction between the character on our show and her partner, the opera singer Wynne Evans.

So here TopMob takes a look at the highs and lows of Katya‘s time on Strictly:

Inside the highs and lows of Katya Jones' Strictly career: From a 'heated argument' with one ex dance partner to THAT cheating scandal - amid 'tensions' with Wynne Evans

‘Tensions’ with Wynne Evans

As your trusted lifestyle guide, I must share an intriguing incident that transpired over the weekend. While partnered with Wynne, I found myself in a somewhat awkward situation during our recent public appearance on Saturday night’s show. A moment arose where it seemed as though his hand was wandering towards my waist, and instinctively, I chose to gently guide it away to maintain comfort and decorum.

In the fourth live broadcast, when Claudia Winkleman announced that this week’s voting lines were now open, Wynne, who is 52 years old, wrapped an arm around Katya. However, she quickly pushed his hand away as it touched her waist.

After their performance, Sam Quek and Nikita Kumzin experienced a second uncomfortable moment as the professional dancer seemed to avoid returning her celebrity partner’s gesture of a high-five.

With both hands extended, Katya appeared to intentionally face away from her partner rather than reciprocate the greeting.

Following some worried comments from observant spectators on social platforms, they decided to clarify the matter via Instagram.

Inside the highs and lows of Katya Jones' Strictly career: From a 'heated argument' with one ex dance partner to THAT cheating scandal - amid 'tensions' with Wynne Evans

In this video, Katya greets everyone as “Hey everyone, this is Wynne and Katya speaking. We felt like playing around at the Clauditorium on Saturday evening, but we wanted to apologize if anyone was affected.

‘It was a silly joke,’ as Wynne added: ‘Yes sorry’.

Later on, Wynne wrote in the caption: ‘I’m sorry if this came off odd tonight; we were simply fooling around. We truly are fantastic friends, and the high fives serve as our inside joke. Enjoy your night, Katyajones!’

Yet, some spectators felt underwhelmed by the explanation since it solely focused on the high-five, leaving other aspects unexplored.

Responding to the tweet, fellow fans chimed in: “I’m baffled too! I can understand the refusal for the high five and the eye roll, but the deliberate hand movement across Katya’s stomach followed by her discomfort? That doesn’t strike me as a ‘joke’.

‘What about the bit where he had wondering hands and you moved them away off your stomach.’

‘This is giving ‘we need to make this video or the producers will kick us off the show’ vibes.’

Completely taken aback, fans witnessed an unexpected event during Saturday evening’s performance.

The couple have appeared to be getting on brilliantly during training and were third on the leaderboard with their sensational Tango for week four.

It appears that there might be growing tension between them, as fans on Twitter have noticed some uncomfortable exchanges between the two.

Spectators swiftly pointed out an awkward instance, expressing their responses on Twitter.

‘Heated argument’ with former dance partner

During one of the episodes in 2022, it seemed as though Tony Adams and his dance partner Katya were engaged in a passionate dispute near the end.

Previously renowned soccer player, aged 56, experienced a series of errors while dancing Salsa earlier that evening, ultimately placing last on the scoreboard. Later in the conversation, Katya confessed to having scolded him post-performance.

However, as Claudia and Tess Daly were concluding the program, Tony was noticeably engaged in a lively conversation with the professional dancer, who was facing away from the camera at the time.

Tony and Katya were eager to surpass their top scores from the previous week by dancing Salsa to the song “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” by Pitbull.

Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be as the judges had some mixed remarks over the performance.

Craig Revel Horwood essentially said, “It didn’t turn out well tonight, which is too bad,” whereas Motsi Mabuse found it challenging to provide a compliment but managed to say, “You gave your all… life happens… remember you’re the queen, go out there and dance the salsa!

Despite Shirley Ballas attempting to maintain a positive outlook by complimenting Tony’s spins and daring lifts, she also expressed disappointment as he stepped incorrectly and committed numerous errors.

Speaking to Claudia afterwards, Tony said: ‘I was too busy having fun!

The crowd was buzzing, and it felt fantastic. But when I glanced below, I found myself wondering, ‘What on earth is happening there?’

Upon gazing at her expression, I heard her exclaim, “Oh my word!” In that moment, finding myself in a supportive role, I emphatically called out, “Concentrate!” to the athlete on the field.

TopMob contacted representatives for Tony, Katya and the BBC for comment at the time.

Cheating scandal

In October 2018, the popular show Strictly found itself embroiled in its most significant controversy to date, as contestant Seann Walsh and his professional dance partner Katya were spotted kissing during a night out.

At that point, the comedian was involved in a lengthy commitment with Rebecca Humphries, while Katya was tied in matrimony with dance partner Neil Jones.

After the event, Rebecca shared a heartfelt declaration, disclosing that he had labeled her as ‘crazy’ and ‘insane’ due to her concerns about his friendship with Katya, whom he kissed on Rebecca’s birthday – prior to the pictures becoming public knowledge.

Initially, Katya was bolstered by her spouse, Neil, following a regrettable incident under the influence of alcohol. However, this support could not save their union, and they eventually revealed their separation in August 2019.

In a shared post on Instagram, the dancers announced their separation, however, even though they expressed having mutual ‘respect’ and ‘affection’ for each other, it is said that Katya’s infidelity remained an unforgivable issue for her spouse.

Since their separation, they’ve managed to maintain a friendship and dance as partners on Strictly Come Dancing.

Reflecting on when he discovered his Personal Digital Assistant’s information was made public, Seann had earlier stated: “I stepped out of the wardrobe section and just as I was about to request my first drink, my agent approached me and suggested we talk outside.

I assumed he was about to inform me that I’d won tickets for Michael McIntyre’s Big Show, so I should put on an air of surprise.

It turns out that I didn’t need to feign surprise, as it was later revealed that approximately 20 minutes prior, a photo of me kissing Katya outside a pub had been shared online. In the BBC parking lot, my agent glanced over his glasses and made this announcement.

At that very moment, my life took an unexpected flip – what began as a beautiful dream transformed into a harrowing nightmare.

Explaining the incident, he said: ‘I was in a relationship, my dance partner Katya was married.

Following our training session, we decided to unwind with a beverage. As the night unfolded, events took an unexpected turn and we ended up being captured on camera sharing a kiss outside a tavern.

‘Awful, I know. It’s awful – I’m sorry. I’m still sorry now.’

He shared that he received numerous harmful comments online, causing him to ponder if he had possibly made a mistake.

‘Then…. Katie Hopkins tweeted in my defence. Then I thought ‘yep, I’ve f****d up!”

‘I managed to keep Brexit off the front pages for 12 whole days, but I hated it.’

‘I thought ‘I just had to get out of here’ and I left for America. Just the break I needed.

Ex dance partner ‘storms off stage’

In retrospect, during last year’s dance series, I experienced an uncomfortable situation with my previous dance partner, Nigel Harman, once more. It serves as a reminder that every partnership, whether on the dance floor or in life, brings its unique set of challenges.

In 2023, he left the dance floor angrily following a less-than-satisfactory evaluation of his performance at Blackpool’s competition that was caught on camera.

Previously on EastEnders, actor now 50 years old, and Katya, performed a dance routine to Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean A Thing.” Unfortunately, their performance placed them second to last on the judges’ scoreboard, earning them a total of 31 points out of a possible 40.

A video posted online shows Nigel hastily leaving the dance floor mere moments after the BBC cameras ceased recording.

Initially, Katya seemed puzzled and momentarily froze in place instead of dancing like the other contestants who were enthusiastically joining in and embracing each other.

The person who posted the video on Twitter also commented: “Are the Strictly judges satisfied with themselves? It seemed as though Nigel was shattered tonight, unable to continue dancing even after the ‘keep dancing once’ theme and cameras were turned off.

‘Taken away someone’s love of dance & confidence should not be what show is about.’

TopMob contacted Nigel’s representatives at the time.

2024-10-13 12:40