Strictly Come Dancing’s Sarah Hadland discussed the on-going scandal between fellow competitors Katya Jones and Wynne Evans as she spoke to the This Morning hosts
Strictly Come Dancing’s Sarah Hadland has spoken out on Katya Jones and Wynne Evans’ ‘groping’ scandal that marred last weekend’s show.
The dancing pair were caught up in controversy on Saturday night over an incident they labelled a “silly inside joke”. The duo caused a stir after Katya was seen on camera batting Wynne’s hand away after he rested it on her hip. Later in the show Wynne was seen attempting to give his co-star a high five only for her to look furious at him and turn away leaving him hanging in the air.
On Wednesday’s edition of This Morning, Sarah and her dance partner Vito Coppola spoke to hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about what had been happening behind the scenes.
Almost immediately, Ben said: “It’s been a difficult week in many ways, you’re on the inside of it for Wynne and Katya. We saw what happened on the weekend and we’ve seen it since they’ve come out and made it very clear that they’re great mates and it was a joke.
“But it is when you understand how forensically people are pouring over the show and they’re looking for the slightest bit of information or nuance to what’s been going on.”
The ITV presenter then asked Sarah how that feels, to which she replied: “You just have to be who you are.”
The comedy actress then admitted that this year’s cast were wary about how they are being seen on camera and commented how she hoped viewers would ‘appreciate’ that.
She continued: “I think really, you’ve got to, especially with a show like Strictly when there is, as you say, so much attention. You’ve just had to go into it completely being yourself and keep doing that. You wouldn’t, well I wouldn’t be able to maintain something that isn’t yourself. So, I think you just have to be who you are, react how you react to stuff and that’s all you can do. I hope that people connect with that and appreciate that.”
Strictly viewers had spotted a curious exchange when Katya seemed to push away Wynne’s hand from her hip on the weekend. She then appeared to ignore his high-five attempt. Following some negative reaction and apparent discomfort displayed by the dancer, the pair came forward to set the record straight, affirming it was all in good fun.
On Strictly: It Takes Two, Katya tried to put an end to the situation, emphasising: “I have to make this absolutely clear, that this whole incident with the hand and the high five on Saturday night, it was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke, yes, was it a bad joke, yes. Even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense.”
Wynne also shared his regrets over the incident during his BBC Radio Wales show. He said: “I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.
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