Katya Jones has hit back after her Strictly Come Dancing partner Wynne Evans was criticised over an on-air gesture. Saturday's live episode of the BBC show saw the 52-year-old opera singer appear to stroke Katya's stomach, causing a stir among viewers.
Footage showed Wynne's hand moving from Katya's waist towards her stomach before she quickly swatted it away, prompting claims of inappropriate behaviour. However, Katya has now dismissed these concerns as baseless, insisting their interaction was nothing more than harmless fun.
Taking to her Instagram account, the professional dancer clarified: "I need to make something crystal clear. The hand incident that happened on Saturday night was a very silly inside joke between Wynne and I.
"So even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is complete nonsense. It's actually absurd."
The Strictly stars initially set the record straight in a joint video. In a clip shared on , the pair could be seen still in their show costumes as they addressed the concerns online.
Katya began: "Hi everyone. It's Wynne and Katya here. We just wanted to say we were just messing around in the Claudatorium on Saturday night and wanted to say sorry, it was a silly joke."
Wynne chimed in with: "Yes, sorry" before they both visibly cringed backstage. Wynne added in the caption: "Apologies for this tonight we were just messing around. We really are amazing friends.
"The high 5's is a running joke," he insisted. "Have a great evening."
In candid revelations shared with the Daily Mail, the classically-trained vocalist disclosed: "She's almost 20 years younger than me, and she seems 20 years wiser than I am. We talk a lot about what's going on in life and what's going on in the world."
Wynne added: "I suppose I've learned that I can only focus on myself. I can't control anything else around me. And I mean, I still not very good at that, but I can't control everything around me.
"I can only control what I'm doing and how I'm doing and how I'm performing and how I'm behaving, and that's all I can really focus on."
