Latest updates and reaction from Strictly Come Dancing week five as Wynne Evans and Katya Jones return to ballroom in wake of ‘hand incident’

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of Strictly Come Dancing as we head into week five.

Controversy returned to the show this week after Wynne Evans and Katya Jones’ infamous “hand incident” set tongues wagging last weekend, prompting the pair to defend their awkward encounter.

The pair will hope to put the incident behind them and focus on their dancing as they attempt to cha-cha up the leaderboard tonight.

We’ll be providing live commentary on all the dancers tonight, trying to bring you the most striking photos and videos from the proceedings and your reaction on social media.

So sit back, relax and let’s see which celebrities are hitting the dance floor or at risk of waltzing off tomorrow night.

Before we look ahead to tonight’s offering… let’s remind you what happened last week.

Nick Knowles, the oldest male celebrity in this year’s lineup, became the third star to be kicked out of the ballroom after he and Luba Mushtuk lost the dance-off to Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu. LINK

And Tasha Ghouri earned the top ten when she impressed the judges with her Charleston performance with partner Aljaz Skorjanec in Unhealthy by Anne-Marie, Shania Twain

Here is the scoreboard in full:

• Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec (9+10+10+10) = 39
• Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas (8+9+9+8) = 34
• Wynne Evans and Katya Jones (8+9+9+8) = 34
• Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe (8+8+8+9) = 33
• Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell (6+8+8+8) = 30
• JB Gill and Amy Dowden (7+8+7+8) = 30
• Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu (7+8+7+8) = 30
• Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał (7+7+8+7) = 29
• Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin (7+7+7+7) = 28
• Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola (6+7+7+7) = 27
• Paul Merson and Karen Hauer (4+6+6+7) = 23
• Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk (4+6+5+6) = 21
• Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez (4+5+5+6) = 20

The Strictly story of the week has undoubtedly been Wynne Evans and Katya Jones’ awkward ‘hand incident’ after viewers last weekend saw the professional move the opera singer’s hand from her waist and reject his attempted high-five.

The dance partners have been defending their toe-curling exchange all week during last Saturday night’s live show.

On Monday the pair appeared together on Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two, where Katya declared Wynne had been ‘portrayed as someone he isn’t’ as they insisted his ‘wandering hand’ incident was a lame joke.

As she clung to his arm, she said, “The idea that this made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense, and those who doubt, you are wrong. Hopefully this is the end of it and you’ll continue to make me laugh.’

However, Wynne admitted that he had rewatched the footage of the incident and admitted, “I understand how people might have misinterpreted it.”

Hours after the broadcast, neither Katya nor Wynne smiled as they walked to their training studio in Wales ahead of tonight’s rehearsals.

The controversy puts the pair in serious danger of being banned from Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday, according to the results of Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday, the bookmakers said.

Opera singer Wynne, 52, – who was once front-runner for the Glitterball Trophy – is sent off at just 5/1 from the competition this week, after being 25/1 in the same market last week.