Wynne Evans and Katya Jones are in serious danger of being banned from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday, according to bookmakers’ results – a week after their awkward ‘hand incident’.
The dance partners have spent the week defending their awkward exchange during Saturday night’s live show.
Viewers saw the moment Katya removed Wynne’s hand from her waist and rejected his attempt at a high-five with her.
Opera singer Wynne, 52, – who was once favourite to win the Glitterball Trophy – is sent packing this week at just 5/1, having been 25/1 in the same market last week.
Elsewhere, Paul Merson will once again go into Saturday’s show as favourite to boot at 11/10, while Punam Krishan is 5/2 in the betting as things stand.
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones are in serious danger of being banned from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday, according to bookmakers’ results – a week after their awkward ‘hand incident’
They have been defending their awkward exchange all week during Saturday night’s live show, when viewers saw the moment Katya removed Wynne’s hand from her waist.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: ‘Wynne’s odds have plummeted in recent days, with punters convinced he will be in a dangerous position on the scoreboard this weekend… a stark contrast to where he was this time last week.’
Wynne and Katya have been working hard this week, in between defending interactions, but they looked far from their usual cheerful selves on Tuesday as they headed out together.
Bookies: Next Strict Elimination
Paul Merson – 11/10
Punam Krishan – 5/2
Wynne Evans – 5/1
Sam Quek – 10/1
Shayne Ward – 12/1
Pete Wicks – 14/1
Katya and Wynne showed excitement on their faces and were not smiling as they walked to their training studio in Wales.
The appearance came hours after the pair made an emotional appearance on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two.
Katya has defended her famous partner, saying he has been ‘portrayed as someone he is not’, while the couple insist his ‘wandering hand’ incident was a joke.
During his TV appearance on Monday night, Wynne admitted that he had watched the footage of the incident and admitted, “I understand how people have misinterpreted it.”
As she clung to his arm, Katya said she “couldn’t bear” her co-star’s fainting and that she understood that there was no injustice.
She said, “The idea that I would be uncomfortable or offended by it is complete nonsense and for those who are doubting, you are wrong. Hopefully this is the end of it and you continue to make me laugh.”
She added: “I can’t sit here and watch this man being portrayed as someone he’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“So I have to make it very clear that this whole incident, the handshake and the high five on Saturday night, was an inside joke between Wynne and me. Was it a joke? Yes, was it a bad joke? Yes.”
The incident caused such disquiet at the BBC’s top brass, who had spent months battling allegations of misconduct in previous series, that a welfare investigation was launched.
A source said
Wynne, who has starred in GoCompare adverts for more than a decade, claims he is ‘heartbroken’ by the fallout after some Strictly fans wanted him to be removed from the show.
“Rehearsal room investigators have meticulous records of what happens between each celebrity couple during rehearsals and Wynne and Katya are no exception.”
“If there had been any misconduct or cause for concern, it would have been picked up by the welfare team.
“That did not happen and they consider the matter closed.”
The BBC confirmed that no further action is planned.
Wynne, who has starred in GoCompare adverts for more than a decade, claims he is ‘heartbroken’ by the fallout after some Strictly fans wanted him to be removed from the show.
Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, where he presents a daily show, Mr Evans said: “I am absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me over the last day.
He said: “I’m absolutely devastated by the things that have been written about me over the last day.
The duo emerged as surprise favourites to win this year’s Strictly, with 34 out of 40 points from the judges for their tango on Saturday.
‘It’s not nice to be living in that time, but actually Katya and I are very close and very good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke.
‘It was a stupid joke that backfired, okay, we thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It was completely misinterpreted.
‘It’s all on Katya’s social media. She’s talked about it. She explained that it was a joke. She wasn’t offended at all. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
‘We have a great friendship, an absolutely close friendship, and I’m sorry if anyone was offended by that, but it was a joke and yeah, that’s it, there’s no real story.
: “The Strictly welfare team checked on the couple individually to confirm that there was nothing wrong and that they were both happy to continue working together.
Opera singer Wynne, 52, – who was once front-runner for the Glitterball Trophy – is being sent packing this week at just 5/1, having been at 25/1 on the same market last week.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: ‘Wynne’s odds have fallen dramatically in recent days and punters are confident he will be in a dangerous position on the scoreboard this weekend’
“And it feels weird to apologise because I feel like I didn’t do anything.”
He admitted he had “misjudged” when interviewed on Radio Wales Breakfast before launching his own show on the channel, and confirmed he was “definitely still open to” doing Strictly.
He said: “I’m having the best time of my life. I just don’t want this to be the part people remember.”
On Sunday, Evans and Jones posted a video on Instagram saying they had “just been messing around in the ‘Clauditorium'” the night before and just wanted to say sorry. It was a joke.”
And in response to several users on X, formerly Twitter, the dancer said: “You’ve picked up on our joke!”
At another point on Saturday night, Jones appeared to not want to give her famous partner a high five.
A caption on their video explained that “high fives are a running joke.”
But viewers of Sunday night’s results show weren’t convinced by the statement, claiming they saw Jones “staring” at her famous partner.
During the show, Claudia asked Evans how he was feeling and noted that he looked shocked.
Wynne responded, “I’m shocked because I didn’t think I was going to make it through the first week, so to be here after a tango is really exciting.
“And I had such a good time and that’s thanks to Katya’s clever choreography.”
As Evans gave his answer, fans noted that Katya remained deadpan and even appeared to leave when the opera singer reviewed his performance.
The pair seemed to be doing great during training and were third on the scoreboard with their sensational Tango for week four
On Sunday, Evans and Jones posted a video on Instagram saying they were “just messing around in the ‘Auditorium'” the night before and that they just wanted to say sorry. It was a stupid joke
Supervisors have been appointed to Strictly during this year’s rehearsals, after the BBC launched a review after Sherlock actress Amanda Abbington made complaints about her 2023 professional dance partner Giovanni Penrice.
The BBC apologised to Abbington, saying: “We have reviewed the complaints and we have upheld some, but not all, of the complaints.”
Penrice has always denied the allegations and said he was “delighted” after the investigation cleared him of most of the abuse allegations.
The BBC outlined the show’s new duty of care measures in September, saying: ‘In July, we introduced new measures for training and rehearsals, which are in place for this year’s show.
‘For example, there was always a member of the production team present in the training room during rehearsals; two new roles on the show focused on wellness support: a Celebrity Wellness Producer and a Professional Dancer Wellness Producer (both started in August); and additional training for the professional dancers, production team and crew.