The BBC has decided “no further action” is necessary after looking into the incident involving Wynne Evans and Katya Jones over the weekend.
Controversy arose after a Strictly Come Dancing live show moment where Katya moved Wynne’s hand away from her waist, leading her to publicly defend her dance partner on It Takes Two on Monday night.
The dancer, 35, expressed distress at false impressions being formed and emphasised that Wynne shouldn’t be “portrayed as someone he is not”.
A source from the BBC addressed the issue with the Mirror, saying: “Wynne and Katya have confirmed that their interactions in the Clauditorium were silly jokes they had planned together and have apologised to anyone who may have misinterpreted them.
“They addressed them on Wynne’s Instagram, where their apology can be found. Katya would like to clarify further that she was not offended by Wynne and was not made to feel uncomfortable in the least she has also clarified on her Instagram. The welfare and production teams have checked in on the pair and there are no further actions planned.”
After the social media buzz on the matter, the Strictly duo appeared on It Takes Two, where Katya vehemently dismissed any insinuations that she was “uncomfortable or offended” and called such suggestions “total nonsense”.
Speaking to host Fleur East, she insisted: “Quite frankly I can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he is not.
“And in fact, it couldn’t be further away from the truth so 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.”
Opera singer Wynne, famed for his appearances in Go Compare insurance adverts, acknowledged that he “could see how people may have misinterpreted” the moment.
Katya added: “Even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense. Those that have doubts, you guys have got it wrong. Hopefully this will be the end of it. He just keep making me smile please, because my Sunday was pretty boring without you making me belly laugh all day long.”
Wynne, 52, also shared his heartache with BBC Radio Wales listeners, expressing: “I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.
“It’s not nice to live in that time, but basically Katya and I are really, really close and we’re really good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke. It was a stupid joke that went wrong, okay, we thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted.”
The father of two elaborated on the incident, pointing out that his dance partner Katya had already addressed the matter online: “Everything’s on Katya’s socials. She’s talked about it. She’s explained that it was a joke. She wasn’t offended in the least. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable.
“We’ve got a brilliant friendship, an absolutely tight friendship, and I’m sorry if anybody was offended by it, but it was a joke and yeah, that’s all there is, there is no real story, really. And I feel weird apologising because I feel like I’ve not really done anything.”