Within minutes of it happening, it had a name: ‘the hand incident’. Such was the term viewers gave to an awkward few seconds on Saturday night’s Strictly Come Dancing, where opera singer Wynne Evans’s palm appeared to slide uncomfortably across Katya Jones’s stomach – before she pushed it back, rictus grinning to camera all the while.
To make matters worse, Jones later appeared to ignore Evans’s hands outstretched in anticipation of a high five, prompting viewer concern so loud, both issued explanations online. For Evans, that came via a post assuring viewers that the unreturned gesture was a “running joke”; Jones shared a video to make “crystal clear” that the seemingly choppy waters between them were in fact “a very silly inside joke between Wynne and I, so even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is complete nonsense.”
With Giovanni Pernice and Graziano di Prima – and their accompanying psychodramas – out of the way, the show has been searching for its new main character. Jones may well fit the bill. In an otherwise uber-tame series that has seen viewers switching off (audiences have ranged between 5.5m-7.1m, compared to 7.8m the year before), the saga has at least shunted the show back into the headlines – and possibly secured her place within it.
Jones was born in Saint Petersburg, training in ballroom and Latin before entering the competitive circuit. In 2008, her coach and Strictly alum Karen Hardy recommended that she partner with Neil Jones; they won within a year, and entered the glitterball’s orbit in 2016 – she as a contestant, he as a dancer in group numbers.
Since that point, she has oscillated between being its newest darling, making a passable(ish) dancer out of Ed Balls, and more latterly becoming a lightning rod for controversy.