A professional Strictly dancer has defended her dance partner after a viral video prompted hundreds of people to suggest he made her feel uncomfortable.
During Saturday night’s show, Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans slipped her arm around Katja Jones’ waist, which she pushed away.
Now the viral moment has come as host Claudia Winkleman revealed that voting lines are open for this week’s show.
This led hundreds of people on social media to speculate that Jones was uncomfortable during the interaction.
A second clip of the pair then went viral of Evans, a Welsh opera singer, trying to high-five Jones and getting turned down.
After the pair started making out on social media, they posted a video together saying the high five incident was just a “stupid prank”.
Evans, who rose to fame starring in the Go Compare opera commercials, captioned the post: “We were just messing around. We really are great friends.”
Jones has now responded directly to the clip, in which she moves Evans’ hand away from the middle of her waist.
“Happy Sunday everyone,” she said in a video posted to Instagram.
“Now I have to make something crystal clear. The hand incident that happened on Saturday night was an inside – very stupid, very stupid – inside joke between Wynne and myself.
“So even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended me in any way is complete nonsense.
“It’s actually quite absurd. Now, can we just focus on how brilliantly he’s doing and what an amazing dancer he’s becoming?’
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A welfare team has already checked on the couple, according to the PA news agency, and no further action is planned.
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The pair danced the tango to Abba’s Money, Money, Money during Saturday night’s show, scoring 34 points.
This season marks Strictly’s 20th anniversary with a new celebrity cast and some changes, including the presence of chaperones “at all times” during rehearsals, following a number of allegations of harassment on the show.
It came as DIY SOS star Nick Knowles became the third celebrity eliminated from the 20th anniversary series of Strictly Come Dancing following Sunday night’s results show.
