Wynne Evans ‘heartbroken’ by reaction to hand incident with Strictly partner

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

The pair have both apologised, saying the moment was a “joke” after a clip showing the incident was widely shared on social media.

It comes amid heightened scrutiny of the popular BBC One dancing show following celebrities being outspoken about their treatment on the long-running series, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary year.

Opera singer Evans, 52, known for the Go Compare insurance adverts, told BBC Radio Wales: “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, okay, we thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted.

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

“We’ve got a brilliant friendship, an absolutely tight friendship, and I’m sorry if anybody was offended by it, but it was a joke and yeah, that’s all there is, there is no real story, really.

“And I feel weird apologising because I feel like I’ve not really done anything.”

He agreed he had “misjudged it”, when interviewed on Radio Wales Breakfast before starting his own show on the station, and confirmed he was “absolutely still up for” Strictly.

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

The radio presenter also said he was finding the furore “tedious”, and said people can tune in to hear the pair discuss it on spin-off show Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two.

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

In another moment on Saturday night, Jones appeared to not want to high-five her celebrity partner.

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

A Strictly source told the PA News agency: “Wynne and Katya have confirmed that their interactions in the Clauditorium were silly jokes they had planned together and have apologised to anyone who may have misinterpreted them.

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

“Katya would like to clarify further that she was not offended by Wynne and was not made to feel uncomfortable in the least.

“The welfare team have checked in on the pair and there are no further actions planned.”

The duo had their highest score so far on Saturday, with the judges giving them 34 points for their tango to Abba’s Money, Money, Money on Saturday.

Chaperones have been put in place on Strictly during rehearsals for this year after an review was launched by the BBC following Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington making complaints about her 2023 professional dance partner, Giovanni Pernice.

The BBC apologised to Abbington and said: “We have assessed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints made.”

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

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

“These included a production team member present during training room rehearsals at all times; two new roles on the show dedicated to welfare support – a celebrity welfare producer and a professional dancer welfare producer (both started work in August); and additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew”.