During Wednesday’s episode of This Morning, Strictly Come Dancing stars Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola joined hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley for a chat.
Ben immediately addressed the recent controversy surrounding Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, which has been making waves online after a few videos went viral this week.
He remarked: “It’s been a difficult week in many ways, you’re on the inside of it for Wynne and Katya. We saw what happened on the weekend and we’ve seen it since they’ve come out and made it very clear that they’re great mates and it was a joke. But it is when you understand how forensically people are pouring over the show and they’re looking for the slightest bit of information or nuance to what’s been going on.”
The ITV presenter queried Sarah on her feelings about being under intense scrutiny from the audience, to which she succinctly replied: “You just have to be who you are.”
She elaborated: “I think really, you’ve got to, especially with a show like Strictly when there is, as you say, so much attention. You’ve just had to go into it completely being yourself and keep doing that.
“You wouldn’t, well I wouldn’t be able to maintain something that isn’t yourself. So, I think you just have to be who you are, react how you react to stuff and that’s all you can do. I hope that people connect with that and appreciate that.”
Ben queried if the controversy involving Wynne and Katya truly served as a wake-up call, given the intense scrutiny faced by participants. He remarked: “They were just having a bit of fun, but actually that can get misconstrued and then that suddenly becomes a story.”
Interrupting, Vito advised the This Morning presenter that authenticity is crucial when taking part in the show. The Strictly professional swiftly changed the subject, mentioning to the hosts how he and Sarah always have fun in their practice sessions, reports Birmingham Live.
The debate over Wynne and Katya’s conduct emerged following their stint on the Saturday night programme. Observant viewers noticed the Welsh opera singer placing his hand on Katya’s waist, which she promptly shifted away.
In a separate viral video, Katya seems to snub a high-five from Wynne, turning her back and rolling her eyes. During an episode of It Takes Two this week, the Strictly Come Dancing professional stood up for her celebrity dance partner.
She stated: “I will get onto dancing I promise but can I please first get something out of the way that I feel like overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason and quite frankly, actually, I can’t bare sitting here watching this man [Wynne] being portrayed as someone he’s not.”
“In fact, it couldn’t be further away from the truth so I have to make this absolutely clear that this whole incident with the hand and the high five on Saturday night it was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes! Was it a bad joke? Yes!”
This Morning airs on weekdays on ITV starting at 10am.
Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday on BBC One from 6:25pm