Strictly Come Dancing’s Wynne Evans is ‘heartbroken’ by public reaction to ‘hand incident’ with pro partner Katya Jones

Strictly Come Dancing contestant Wynne Evans says he is ‘heartbroken’ by the reaction to the way professional partner Katya Jones moved his hand from her waist during Saturday night’s live show.

The pair have both apologized and said the moment was a ‘joke’ after a clip showing the incident was shared widely on social media.

The controversy ended on Saturday’s show when Evans appeared to place his hand on Katya’s waist before she pushed him away. Later in the show, Evans offered his partner a high five, which she ignored before turning back to the camera with a stony face.

It comes amid increased scrutiny of the hit BBC One dance show, after celebrities opened up about their treatment in the long-running series, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary year.

Opera singer Evans, 52, known for the Go Compare insurance adverts, said the angry response from fans was ‘nasty’ and told BBC Radio Wales: ‘I am absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.

‘It’s not fun to live in those times, but actually Katya and I are very close and very good friends, and on Saturday evening we made a stupid joke.

‘It was a stupid joke that went wrong, okay, we thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been completely misinterpreted.

‘Everything is on Katya’s socials. She’s talked about it. She explained it was a joke. She wasn’t offended in the least. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable.

‘We have a brilliant friendship, an absolutely close friendship, and I’m sorry if anyone was offended by that, but it was a joke and yeah, that’s all there is to it, there’s no real story really.

“And it feels weird to apologize because I feel like I didn’t actually do anything.”

He admitted he ‘misjudged’ when he was interviewed on Radio Wales Breakfast before starting his own show on the channel, and confirmed he was ‘definitely still up for’ Strictly.

He said: ‘I’m having the best time of my life. I just don’t want this to be the piece that people remember.”

The radio host also said he found the furor ‘annoying’, and said people can tune in to hear the pair talk about it on spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

While the dancing duo opened up about any secret romances going on behind the scenes in a recent interview, Wynne randomly sent the question to Katya.

Wynne asked, “I didn’t see anyone [getting close]Are you getting close to anyone?’

On Sunday, Evans and Jones, 35, released a video on Instagram saying they were “just messing around in the Clauditorium on Saturday night and just wanted to say sorry.” It was a lame joke.”

At another point on Saturday night, Jones appeared not to want to give her famous partner a high five.

A caption for their video explained that “high 5’s is a running joke.”

A Strictly source said: ‘Wynne and Katya have confirmed their interactions in the Clauditorium were stupid pranks they planned together and have apologized to anyone who may have misinterpreted them.

“They addressed them on Wynne’s Instagram, where their apology can be found.

“Katya would further like to clarify that she was not offended by Wynne and did not feel uncomfortable in any way.

‘The welfare team has checked on the couple and no further action is planned.’

The duo achieved their highest score yet on Saturday, with the judges awarding them 34 points for their tango at Abba’s Money, Money, Money.

Strictly’s Wynne Evans, 52, asked Katya Jones, 35, if she’s ‘getting close to anyone’ on the BBC show during a recent interview together

Stunned, Katya replied, “Me?” Wynne said, “Yes. I don’t know, I haven’t seen you come close [with anyone]even though you could be

Supervisors have been appointed for Strictly during this year’s rehearsals after the BBC launched a review after Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington made complaints about her 2023 professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

The BBC apologized to Abbington, saying: “We have reviewed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints.”

Pernice has always denied the allegations and said he was “happy” after the investigation cleared him of the abuse allegations.

The BBC outlined the show’s new duty of care measures in September, saying: ‘In July we introduced new measures for training and rehearsals, which are in place for this year’s show.

‘For example, there was always a production team member present in the training room during rehearsals; two new roles in the show dedicated to wellbeing support: a celebrity wellbeing producer and a professional wellbeing producer for dancers (both started working in August); and additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew’.