Strictly Come Dancing contestant Wynne Evans has said he is “heartbroken” by the reaction to Katya Jones, his professional partner, moving his hand from her waist.
The pair both apologised and described the moment as a “joke” after a clip of the incident from Saturday’s live show was widely shared on social media.
It comes amid heightened scrutiny of the BBC dancing contest after several celebrities spoke out about their treatment on the long-running series, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Mr Evans, an opera singer known for the Go Compare insurance adverts, told BBC Radio Wales: “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,” he said.
The 52-year-old continued: “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.”