Shocking update for Strictly’s Wynne Evans and Katya Jones – after their awkward ‘hand incident’ on the live show

Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show

As a seasoned observer of the world of entertainment, I must say that the recent Strictly Come Dancing drama between Wynne Evans and Katya Jones has been quite intriguing. It seems to me that this whole situation has been a bit of a misunderstanding, much like trying to do the cha-cha in ballroom shoes on a linoleum floor – it just doesn’t quite work out as planned!


Based on predictions by oddsmakers, it appears that Wynne Evans and Katya Jones could face elimination from Strictly Come Dancing during this coming Sunday’s results program, following last week’s uncomfortable “hand incident”.

Over the past week, the dance partners have been justifying or explaining their uncomfortable interaction that occurred during last Saturday’s live broadcast.

In the scene, viewers noticed an awkward moment as Katya gently disengaged Wynne’s hand from her side, avoiding his high-five offer.

52-year-old opera singer Wynne, who was previously considered a strong contender for the Glitterball Trophy, now has odds of 5/1 to exit the competition this week. Last week, these odds were at 25/1 in the same market.

In other venues, Paul Merson remains the top pick for this weekend’s show with odds of 11/10, while Punam Krishan currently stands at 5/2 in the betting predictions.

Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show

Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show

According to Alex Apati of Ladbrokes, Wynne’s odds have significantly decreased over the past few days, leading many bettors to anticipate that he may find himself in a precarious spot on the leaderboard this weekend. This is quite different from where he stood this same time last week.

This week, Wynne and Katya have been putting in a lot of effort, not just in their defense of their interactions, but they seemed unusually subdued when they were seen leaving together on Tuesday. They didn’t appear their typically lively selves.

Displaying signs of exhaustion on their countenances, neither Katya nor Wynne managed a grin while strolling towards their training facility in Wales.

The emergence occurred some time following the duo’s heartfelt appearance on the Strictly Come Dancing spin-off, It Takes Two.

Katya spoke up for her famous companion, stating that he’s been misrepresented, implying he isn’t the person portrayed in the media. They both claim the “playful gesture” involving his hand was nothing more than a harmless prank.

During a television interview on Monday night, Wynne acknowledged that he had re-watched the video of the event and admitted, “It’s understandable why some might have misunderstood it.

With a grip on his arm, Katya expressed her discomfort about the criticism her fellow actor is facing, adding that she felt sympathetic because it appeared there was no misconduct involved.

She stated: ‘It’s completely absurd to think I felt uncomfortable or offended by it, and if there are any misunderstandings, I assure you, you all were mistaken. I hope this resolves the issue once and for all, and continue to bring a smile to my face.’

She added: ‘I can’t sit here watching this man being portrayed as someone he’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further away from the truth. 

Allow me to clarify this situation in plain terms: The incident involving the hand gesture and the high-five on Saturday night was nothing more than a private joke shared between Wynne and myself. Was it a funny but somewhat foolish joke? Indeed, it was. Was it an inappropriate or malicious joke? Absolutely not.

Due to the incident, there was significant worry within the upper echelons of BBC management, who had already been dealing with allegations of impropriety in past shows for several months. Consequently, they launched an investigation into employee well-being.

According to a source, each member of the duo received a separate visit from the Strictly Welfare Team to ensure everything was alright and they were both content to proceed with their partnership.

Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show
Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show
Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show

Researchers who work in the training room have carefully recorded events that occur during rehearsals for every famous pairing, including Wynne and Katya. In other words, their activities have been noted just like everyone else’s.

If any kind of unacceptable behavior or issue that required attention was observed, it would have been noted by our welfare team.

‘There hasn’t been and they consider the matter closed.’

The BBC confirmed that no further actions are planned. 

Wynne, who has appeared in GoCompare commercials for more than ten years, stated that he felt deeply saddened due to the backlash following some Strictly Come Dancing viewers’ demands for his removal from the program.

On BBC Radio Wales, during his daily program, Mr. Evans expressed his deep sorrow over the recent articles about him, saying, “I’m utterly devastated by what’s been said about me in the past 24 hours.

He expressed deep sadness about the comments made about him over the past day.

The duo had become surprise favourites to win this year’s Strictly, scoring 34 out of 40 from the judges for their tango on Saturday.

Back then wasn’t the best period for us, but to clarify, Katya and I were incredibly close and great friends. On a Saturday evening, we shared a rather silly jest.

Initially, we believed our jest was amusing, but in hindsight, it wasn’t. Unfortunately, the humor was lost and it seems to have been misunderstood entirely.

It seems like everything regarding this matter can be found on Katya’s social media platforms. She has addressed it, clarifying that her initial response was just a jest. She assures everyone that she took no offense and feels completely at ease about the situation.

We share a wonderful, strong friendship, and I apologize if anyone felt uncomfortable by it, but it was meant as a jest with no deeper significance. In essence, there isn’t much more to it than that.

‘And I feel weird apologising because I feel like I’ve not really done anything.’

In an interview on Radio Wales Breakfast prior to hosting his new show, he admitted he made a wrong assessment, and emphasized that he is fully committed to participating in Strictly.

He stated, “This is the most wonderful phase of my existence. I merely hope it won’t be the part that stands out in people’s memories.

On my last Sunday, I shared a playful moment with my friends, Evans and Jones, at our beloved Clauditorium. In the spirit of transparency, I felt it necessary to extend an apology for any confusion caused by our lighthearted antics. It turns out, our joke was more on the silly side than we initially thought.

And replying to several users on X, formerly Twitter, the dancer said: ‘You picked up on our joke!’

In another moment on Saturday night, Jones appeared to not want to high five her celebrity partner.

A caption alongside their video explained that ‘high fives is a running joke’.

As a lifestyle expert, I must share that during last night’s results show, I noticed some viewers expressing skepticism about the given explanation. They claimed to have observed a moment where it seemed my esteemed colleague, Jones, was giving a significant glance, or as they put it, a ‘glare’, towards her celebrity partner.

During the show, Claudia asked Evans how he felt, noting he looked shocked.

As a committed participant, let me express my exhilaration: I never anticipated making it past the first week, yet here I am, still in the game after performing a tango! What an incredible turn of events!

‘And I had such a good time and thank you to Katya’s clever choreography.’

Fans noticed that while Evans responded, Katya showed a stoic expression and seemed to flinch slightly as the opera singer assessed his performance.

Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show
Shocking update for Strictly's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones - after their awkward 'hand incident' on the live show

This season, chaperones are being introduced during Strictly Come Dancing rehearsals following a BBC investigation prompted by complaints lodged by Amanda Abbington, an actress from the show Sherlock, regarding her prospective dance partner for 2023, Giovanni Pernice.

The BBC acknowledged receipt of complaints from Abbington and stated that while they found some of the concerns valid, not all were upheld.

Pernice consistently refutes the accusations, expressing contentment following the conclusion of the investigation, as he was found not guilty of most abuse claims against him.

In the spirit of ensuring the best possible experience for everyone involved, I want to share some changes we’ve implemented for this year’s show. Back in July, we rolled out new measures for training and rehearsals, and these precautions are still actively being used.

‘Present during every training session in the rehearsal room was a member of the production team. Furthermore, two new positions were added to the show specifically focused on welfare support: a celebrity welfare coordinator and a dance welfare coordinator (both commenced work in August). Lastly, further training was provided for the professional dancers, the production staff, and the crew.’

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2024-10-16 17:35

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