Katya Jones’ ‘hand incident’ is not her first on-screen controversy
Katya Jones and Wynne Evans are desperate to draw a line under their ‘hand-gate’ Strictly Come Dancing soap opera – but it is not her first on-screen drama.
The dance partners, 35 and 52 respectively, have found themselves at the centre of a new scandal to engulf the show at a time when the BBC could really do without it.
Katya insists that it is ‘nonsense’ that Wynne sliding his hand slowly across her tummy made her feel uncomfortable – even if her swift shooing away of his hand with a forced grin suggested otherwise to some viewers.
And her decision minutes later to ignore the offer of a high five from the Go Compare opera singer sparked further concerns about their relationship, even though the TV couple insisted it was all part of a private ‘running joke’.
Whatever the truth, Katya has found herself on the front pages again. In 2018 she was caught kissing comedian Seann Walsh in a scandal that cost both of them their relationships – but not their TV careers.
And Strictly fans have pointed to what they believe is a more pertinent incident two years ago – an animated on-screen row with Tony Adams that sparked rumours of a feud that further escalated when the former football said she could be ‘over critical’.
2024: Katya and Wynne have denied rumours of a row between them after she was caught swiping his hand away following their live performance on Saturday
2022: There was a row on screen with partner Tony Adams in the week before he left the competition. The former footballer said that she could be over critical
2018: Strictly was caught up in its biggest scandal of all time when Seann Walsh and his pro partner Katya were caught kissing on a night out
Katya is close to Ed Balls and recently had lunch with him – and was also spotted with Tony and his family in the Cotswolds earlier this year.
Ms Jones and the former Arsenal captain were forced to withdraw from the competition in week eight after Tony sustained a hamstring injury. But a week before there were rumours of a rift.
Viewers saw a heated exchange between them when Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly were wrapping up the show.
Days later they reflected on it on live TV, where Tony said intriguingly that his professional partner can be ‘a little over critical’. She then brushed off ‘feud’ rumours by joking that they ‘don’t like each other’.
Tony then candidly continued: ‘We’ve had two months together now. She’s been training me and the routines she’s putting on are incredible.
‘And sometimes when I miss a step, sometimes she’s a little bit over critical and I just want to have a good time as well.
‘So I think it’s a balance between maybe letting me make a mistake and enjoying myself a little bit at times… I’m not an expert in this field.’
And in 2023 there was another awkward moment occurred with one of Katya’s former dance partners Nigel Harman.
He was filmed storming off the dancefloor after receiving a disappointing score for his performance in Blackpool in 2023.
A second awkward interaction saw the pro dancer to shun her celebrity partner’s attempts at a high five after Sam Quek and Nikita Kumzin’s performance. They later said it was a private joke
After eagle-eyed viewers expressed concern on social media, the pair took to Instagram to address the situation and said there was no feud
They then appeared on It Takes Two where they said the awkward Strictly Come Dancing exchange was an inside joke and added that fan reaction had ‘overshadowed’ their live performance
Katya and Wynne’s ‘hand-gate’ incident has caused another kerfuffle for the BBC, after Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima left.
Mark Borkowski, arguably Britain’s top crisis PR guru, says the row this weekend is yet more proof that Strictly this year is struggling’.
He told The Telegraph: ‘It’s tired, like all reality programmes,’ but added that the interest in the show in recent news is not all bad for the Beeb – and certainly not for Katya.
‘A lot of people are pretty scared about the consequences’, adding viewers are now watching so closely that it ‘proves, you become a target.’
‘The professionals are what they are – they’re professional dancers. They don’t have many other strings to their bow,’ he said.
Katya Jones last night defended her celebrity partner Wynne Evans, declaring he has been ‘portrayed as someone he is not’.
Last night, the duo appeared emotional as they were interviewed on Strictly spin off show It Takes Two.
Mr Evans admitted he had watched the footage of the incident back and confessed: ‘I can see how people may have misinterpreted it.’
Strictly’s Katya Jones spent the weekend with her former partner Tony Adams and his family as she enjoyed a trip to the Cotswolds
The dancer, 34, was paired with the former Arsenal footballer, 57, during the 2022 series of the BBC show, however the couple were forced to withdraw from the competition in week eight after Tony sustained a hamstring injury
But a row was spotted when hosts Claudia and Tess Daly were wrapping up the show the week before
During last year’s series another awkward moment occurred with one of Katya’s former dance partners Nigel Harman, who stormed off stage after poor scores
Katya was married to Neil Jones at the time of the kiss with Seann Walsh, with the former couple announcing their split in August 2019 (pictured in May 2019)
Clutching his arm, Ms Jones said she ‘can’t bear’ the criticism her co-star is getting and that there was no wrongdoing.
She said: ‘The idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense. I can’t sit here watching this man being portrayed as someone he’s not.
‘I have to make this absolutely clear that this whole incident… was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes, was it a bad joke? Yes.’
The incident caused such concern among BBC top brass, who have spent months firefighting accusations of misconduct on previous series, that a welfare investigation was conducted.
A source said: ‘The Strictly welfare team checked in on the pair individually to confirm that nothing was awry.
‘Training room researchers have kept meticulous logs of what goes on during rehearsals between every celebrity couple, and Wynne and Katya are no different.’
