Katya Jones, a professional dancer and Strictly Come Dancing star, has defended her show partner Wynne Evans in the wake of public anger after the ‘hand incident’.
On Saturday (12 October) night’s event, Jones was spotted taking Evans’ hand away from her waist and subsequently declining a high five from him, complete with an eye roll.
However, she published a comment on social media regarding the viral event, which you can see here:
Evans, widely known for his voice in the popular GoCompare commercials, teamed up with Jones following a performance of ABBA’s 1970s classic ‘Money, Money, Money’.
In a statement on Instagram, she clarified that the hand incident on Saturday night was an inside joke between her and Wynne and that any discomfort or offense was unfounded. “It is actually absurd,” she said.
Adding that her strict partner was performing ‘brilliantly’ and becoming a ‘great dancer’, she returned to the issue to clarify what had occurred.
Jones also appeared on the BBC spin-off show It Takes Two tonight (October 14), saying her goal was to ‘get something out of the way that I believe overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason’.
Jones complained: “Quite frankly, I can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he is not.” Indeed, the entire incident involving the hand and high five on Saturday night was a private joke between Wynne and me.
“Was it a silly joke?” Yes. Was this a horrible joke? “Yes,” the 35-year-old told It Takes Two presenter Fleur East.
In a brief video they posted on social media, the couple discussed the incident, admitting they were “messing around” and apologizing to their followers for the “silly joke.”
Since the event, Evans has viewed the video again and expressed that he “could understand how people may have misread it.” However, he did express how “heartbroken” he was on his BBC Wales radio program.
The 52-year-old expressed her heartbreak over the comments made about her on the last day. It’s not a pleasant time to live in. Katya and I, who are close and wonderful friends, created a foolish joke on Saturday night that unfortunately went awry. We found the situation quite amusing.
He defended Katya’s social media posts, stating that she does not feel uncomfortable and that they have a strong connection. I apologize if anyone was upset by it. That was a joke. There’s no genuine narrative here. I feel uncomfortable offering an apology because I don’t believe I’ve done anything wrong.
“I misjudged it. If there’s a joke, I’m generally in the middle of it. That’s about it, and now I just want to keep dancing,” he said.