Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left cringing by Wynne Evans and Katya Jones’ ‘awkward’ return to the dance floor on Saturday – after the opera singer seemingly deleted his X account amid the backlash from last week’s ‘hand incident ‘.
They pair performed a quickstep as they attempted to shake off the toe-curling viral moment that saw Katya, 35, move Wynne’s hand away from her waist and snubbed his attempt at a high-five with her.
The dancer has defended her celebrity partner, 52, declaring he has been ‘portrayed as someone he is not’, as the pair insist his ‘wandering hand’ incident was a silly joke.
But fans were left with a sour taste in their mouths by the couple’s VT before they took to the floor, branding it overly ‘wholesome’ and ‘cosy’ in a bid to put rumours of their feud to bed.
The clip saw the pair beaming as they climbed a Welsh mountain before Wynne gave Katya a piggyback.
Writing: ‘My vote for #StrictlyComeDancing LOOK! WE ARE TOTALLY COMFORTABLE WITH EACH OTHER goes to Wynne and Katya’s pre-dance story’: ‘Wholesome non controversial VT coming’: ‘Make the VT look like you hate each other’.
Despite the pair, who were once frontrunners, for the Glitterball Trophy, becoming bookies’ favourite to leave the competition next, they scored a respectable 33 out of 40 for their Quickstep.
Ahead of Saturday’s show Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: ‘Wynne’s chances have taken a huge hit over the last few days, and punters are convinced he’ll be in a dangerous position in the leaderboard this weekend… a stark contrast with where he was this time last week.’
Speaking on spin-off show It Takes Two on Monday, Wynne admitted he had watched the footage of the incident back and confessed: ‘I can see how people may have misinterpreted it.’
Clinging to his arm, Katya said she ‘can’t bear’ the flack her co-star is getting and was empathetic that there was no wrongdoing.
She said: ‘The idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense, and those that have doubts, you guys have got it wrong. So hopefully this will be the end of it, and you just keep making me smile.’
She added: ‘I can’t sit here watching this man 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, 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 and that both were comfortable continuing with the partnership.
‘Training room researchers have kept meticulous logs of what goes on during rehearsals between every celebrity couple, and Wynne and Katya are no different.’
‘If there had been any form of misbehavior or cause for concern, then it would have been flagged by the welfare team.
‘There hasn’t been and they consider the matter closed.’
The BBC confirmed that no further actions are planned.
Wynne, who has starred in the GoCompare adverts for over a decade, claims that he has been left ‘heartbroken’ by the fallout after some Strictly fans called for him to be axed from the show.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, where he presents a daily show, Mr Evans said: ‘I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.
He said: ‘I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.
