Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left sure Wynne Evans and Katya Jones couldn’t stand each other following their return to the ballroom.
The formidable dancing duo found themselves in hot water and had to say sorry after an “inside joke” backfired dramatically. Footage showing Wynne placing his hand on Katya’s waist, which she seemed to try to remove only for him to repeat the gesture, caused a social media storm as alarmed fans shared the clip widely.
Subsequently, the pair came forward with an explanation, wherein Katya commented: “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.”
Come Monday, Wynne confesses to being “heartbroken” amidst the wave of negative reactions. His statement read: “I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.
“It’s not nice to live in that time, but basically Katya and I are really, really close and we’re really good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke. It was a stupid joke that went wrong, OK? We thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted.”, reports the Mirror.
Tonight, the dancing duo made their comeback on the dancefloor, performing a Quickstep to Electric Light Orchestra’s Mr Blue Sky – their first live performance since the controversy erupted last week.
Although they appeared in Sunday’s pre-recorded show, tonight marked their first live appearance following allegations that Katya looked “uncomfortable”, which she later denied.
Before their dance, Wynne and Katya featured in a video that fans found cringeworthy, with one commenting: “Wins the award for the most awkward VT #strictly.”
Another fan noted: “Wynne definitely lost some of his vibrancy in that VT #strictly.”
A third fan wrote: “Make the VT like you don’t hate each other #strictly,” while a fourth fan commented: “this vt is far too much, VERY unnatural #strictly.” A fifth fan joked: “WHOLESOME NON CONTROVERSIAL VT INCOMING #scd #strictly.”
Strictly Come Dancing airs Saturdays and Sundays on BBC One