STRICTLY’s Katya Jones made multiple playful swipes at Wynne Evans as the pair returned to the rehearsal room after a disaster weekend.
The duo are battling to save their image after a “grope joke” on Saturday’s live show went jorribly wrong.
Katya removed Wynne’s hand from her stomach and followed the awkward moment by declining to high five him.
After both incidents went viral, they insisted there was nothing sinister behind Katya’s frosty reactions.
Wynne, 52, and Katya, 35, jumped on a video on Instagram hours later to insist it was “a joke”.
In a new video on her Instagram Story, Katya and Wynne shared more banter and a few swipes.
He said: “I’m absolutely buzzing” after learning the quickstep and teased Katya for being “exhausted”.
She huffed: “I have been carrying him the whole time”.
“You’re not carrying me at all!
“I did step on her toes a few times, though. Ooops!” Wynne shot back.
In a second video, Katya said she was suffering after Wynne tucked into a curry dinner the night, as they appeared together in the BBC Wales studio today.
The opera singer – who was once a frontrunner for the Glitterball Trophy – is just 5/1 to be sent packing from the competition this week after their grope joke was slammed by viewers.
On Monday night’s BBC Two Strictly spin-off show It Takes Two, Katya insisted that the controversy had overshadowed their performance “for absolutely no reason”.
She added: “Quite frankly I actually can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he’s not.
“In fact it couldn’t be further away from the truth.
“So I have to make 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.
“However, it was a joke and even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is totally nonsense.
“Those that have doubts, you guys have got it wrong.
“So hopefully this will be the end of it.”
Wynne added: “I’ve watched it back and I can see how people might have misinterpreted it.”
The controversy is the last thing the beleaguered corporation wanted after a summer of scandal which saw pros Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima leave the show amid allegations of bad behaviour.
Earlier yesterday, a TV insider said: “Strictly wanted to draw a line under one of the most troubling periods in the programme’s history, which had viewers deeply suspicious about what went on behind the scenes of the show.
“Allegations of inappropriate physical and sexual behaviour seemed to take some of the shine off the dance contest and bosses were looking forward to restoring the glitz and fun.
“Now there’s this bizarre incident which seems to suggest some tension between Wynne and Katya, not to mention inappropriate touching.
“The rap over the knuckles from Strictly was informal and there aren’t any plans to take any further action against them.
Strictly 2024 pairings
Here’s who is matched with who this series…
Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas
JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE
Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe
Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk
Paul Merson and Karen Hauer
Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał
Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec
Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova
Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones
Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones
