Shocking update for Strictly’s Wynne Evans and Katya Jones – after their awkward ‘hand incident’ on the live show

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones are at serious risk of being booted from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday’s results show, according to bookies – a week after their bizarre ‘hand incident’.

The dance partners spent the week defending their awkward conversation during Saturday night’s live show.

Viewers noticed the moment Katya pushed Wynne’s hand away from her waist and rejected his attempt to greet her.

Opera singer Wynne, 52, – who once pioneered the Glitterball Trophy – is just 5/1 to be dropped from the competition this week, after being 25/1 in the same market last week.

Elsewhere, Paul Merson will once again go into Saturday’s show as favorite for the boot at 11/10, while Punam Krishan is 5/2 in the current state betting.

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones are at serious risk of being booted from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday’s results show, according to bookies – a week after their bizarre ‘hand incident’

They spent the week defending their awkward conversation during Saturday night’s live show, when viewers caught the moment Katya removed Wynne’s hand from her waist.

Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati said: ‘Wynne’s chances have taken a huge hit in recent days, and bookmakers are convinced he will be in a dangerous position in the leaderboard this weekend… a stark contrast to where he was this time. week.’

Wynne and Katya have worked hard this week, in between advocating for interaction, but they seemed far from their usual cheerful self on Tuesday when they stepped out together.

Showing the tension on their faces, neither Katya nor Wynne smiled as they walked to the training studio in Wales.

The appearance came hours after the pair made an emotional appearance on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two.

Katia defended her celebrity partner, declaring that he was “portrayed as someone he’s not” as the pair insist his “wandering hand” incident was a silly joke.

In Monday night’s TV appearance, Wynne admitted he watched footage of the incident and confessed: ‘I can see how people could have misinterpreted it.’

Clinging to his arm, Katya said she ‘can’t stand’ the criticism her co-star is receiving and expressed empathy as there was no wrongdoing.

She said: ‘The idea that this made me uncomfortable or offended in any way is utter nonsense, and anyone in doubt, you are mistaken. So I hope this is the end and you continue to make me smile.

She added: “I can’t sit here and watch this man be portrayed as someone he’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth.

‘So I have to make it 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 so much concern among the BBC’s top brass, who had spent months fighting allegations of misconduct in previous series, that a welfare investigation was conducted.

A source said: “The Strictly Wellness team assessed the pair individually to confirm nothing was wrong and they were both comfortable continuing the partnership.

Opera singer Wynne, 52, – who once pioneered the Glitterball Trophy – is just 5/1 to be dropped from the competition this week, after being 25/1 in the same market last week

Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati said: ‘Wynne’s chances have taken a huge hit in recent days and punters are convinced he will be in a dangerous position in the leaderboard this weekend.’

Wynne, who starred in GoCompare adverts for more than a decade, claims he was left heartbroken by the fallout after some Strictly fans called for him to be booted from the show

“Training room researchers kept meticulous records of what happens during rehearsals between each celebrity couple, and Wynne and Katya are no different.”

“If there had been any form of misbehavior or cause for concern, it would have been flagged by social care staff.

‘There was none and they consider the matter closed.’

The BBC has confirmed that no further action is planned.

Wynne, who starred in GoCompare adverts for more than a decade, claims he was heartbroken by the fallout after some Strictly fans called for him to be dropped from the show.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, where he presents a daily programme, Mr Evans said: “I am absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.

He said: ‘I am absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last few days.

The pair became surprise favorites to win this year’s Strictly, scoring 34 out of 40 points from the judges in their tango on Saturday.

‘It’s not nice living in those times, but basically Katya and I are very, very close and we’re good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke.

‘It was a stupid joke gone wrong, ok, we thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It was completely misinterpreted.

‘It’s all on Katya’s social media. She talked about it. She explained that it was a joke. She wasn’t offended at all. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable.

‘We have a brilliant friendship, an absolutely close friendship, and I’m sorry if anyone was offended by that, but it was a joke and yes, that’s all there is, there’s no real story, really.

“And I feel weird apologizing because I feel like I didn’t really do anything.”

He agreed he had ‘misjudged’ when interviewed on Radio Wales Breakfast before starting his own show on the station, and confirmed he was ‘absolutely still ready for’ Strictly.

He said: ‘I’m having the time of my life. I just don’t want this to be the part that people remember.

On Sunday, Evans and Jones released a video on Instagram saying they were “just messing around in the ‘Clauditorium’ the night before and just want to say sorry. It was a silly joke.’

And responding to several users of X, formerly Twitter, the dancer said: ‘You got our joke!’

At another point on Saturday night, Jones appeared unwilling to greet her celebrity partner.

A caption next to the video explained that “high five is a running joke”.

But viewers of Sunday night’s results show were unconvinced by the explanation, claiming they had seen Jones appearing to “stare” at his celebrity partner.

During the show, Claudia asked Evans how he felt, noting that he looked shocked.

Wynne replied: “I’m shocked because I didn’t think I would survive the first week, so to be here after having done a tango is really exciting.

“And I had so much fun and thanks for Katya’s clever choreography.”

As Evans gave his response, fans noticed that Katya remained stone-faced and even appeared to shudder as the opera singer assessed her performance.

The couple seemed to be getting along well during training and came third on the leaderboard with their sensational Tango in week four

On Sunday, Evans and Jones released a video on Instagram saying they were “just messing around in the ‘Clauditorium’ the night before and just want to say sorry. It was a silly joke’

Escorts were placed on Strictly during rehearsals this year after a review was released by the BBC following Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington making complaints about her 2023 professional dance partner Giovanni Pernice.

The BBC apologized to Abbington and said: ‘We have assessed the complaints and 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 most of the abuse allegations.

Outlining the show’s new 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.

‘This included a member of the production team present during rehearsals in the training room at all times; two new roles on the show dedicated to supporting social care – a celebrity social care producer and a professional dancing social care producer (both started work in August); and additional training for professional dancers, production staff and technical staff.