Brendan Cole speaks out on Wynne Evans and ‘hand incident’ on Strictly

Brendan Cole has revealed what he really thinks about Wynne Evans on Strictly Come Dancing amid his ‘wandering hand’ incident with Katya Jones.

The professional dancer, 48, who appeared on Strictly from 2004 to 2018, shared his thoughts on the Welsh opera singer’s performance on the show following the recent drama.

Wynne, 52, and Katya, 35, have insisted the awkward ‘hand incident’ during Saturday’s live show, which saw Katya appear to frostily push her dance partner away, was the result of an unexplained ‘in-joke’.

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Speaking to Sky Vegas, Brendan said: ‘Wynne did a really good Tango – that was the proper technique for this dance.

‘When you dance Tango, there is an action that allows you to have power while moving from foot to foot. That is what Tango is. 

Brendan Cole, 48, has revealed what he really thinks about Wynne Evans on Strictly Come Dancing amid his ‘wandering hand’ incident with Katya Jones (pictured in May)

Wynne, 52, and Katya, 35, have insisted the awkward ‘hand incident’ during Saturday’s live show, which saw Katya appear to frostily push her dance partner away , was the result of an unexplained ‘in-joke’

‘He delivered that perfectly on his own and in hold’.

Wynne and Katya have continued to insist all is well between them as they cosied up for snaps ahead of their It Takes Two appearance.

The dancing duo appeared on BBC’s It Takes Two on Monday where the professional dancer lashed out at critics for ‘attacking’ her celebrity partner.

And ahead of the show airing, Wynne and Katya were seen beaming as they posed for snaps and filming a cheery clip.

Katya took to her Instagram Story to share smiley snaps of the pair backstage while in another she shared a picture of the duo on the TV laughing together during their interview. 

In a selfie video before their interview, Katya turned to speak into Wynne’s ear as she joked: ‘Hello, hello can you hear me? 

‘Yes I can,’ the opera singer replied. ‘It’s Wynne and Katya yeah.’

‘What are we doing?’ the dancer asked, to which Wynne replied: ‘We’re on It Takes Two tonight on BBC at 6.30pm. See you there.’

The professional dancer, who appeared on Strictly from 2004 to 2018, shared his thoughts on the Welsh opera singer’s performance on the show following the recent drama (Brendan pictured on the show with Natasha Kaplinsky in 2018)

Brendan said: ‘Wynne did a really good Tango – that was the proper technique for this dance. When you dance Tango, there is an action that allows you to have power while moving from foot to foot. That is what Tango is’

Wynne and Katya have continued to insist all is well between them as they cosied up for snaps ahead of their It Takes Two appearance 

During the episode, Katya defended Wynne declaring he has been ‘portrayed as someone he is not’, as the pair insist his ‘wandering hand’ incident was a silly joke.

Her emotional defence of the opera singer comes after their appearance on the fourth live show on Saturday, when viewers spotted a toe-curling interaction as she moved his hand away from her waist and snubbed his attempt at a high-five with her.

On Monday evening, the duo appeared emotional as they gave a joint interview on Strictly spin off show It Takes Two.

Wynne, who earlier in the day had said he was ‘heartbroken’, admitted he had watched the footage of the incident back and confessed: ‘I can see how people may have misinterpreted it.’

Clinging to his arm, Katya said she ‘can’t bear’ the flack her co-star is getting and was empathetic that there was no wrongdoing.

She said: ‘The idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense, and those that have doubts, you guys have got it wrong. So hopefully this will be the end of it, and you just keep making me smile.’

She added: ‘I can’t sit 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 this absolutely clear that this whole incident, with the hand and the high five on Saturday night, was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes, was it a bad joke? Yes.’

Katya and Wynne appeared on BBC’s It Takes Two on Monday where the professional dancer lashed out at critics for ‘attacking’ her celebrity partner

Katya took to her Instagram Story to share smiley snaps of the pair backstage while in another she shared a picture of the duo on the TV laughing together during their interview

Katya lashed out at critics for ‘attacking’ Wynne on Strictly Come Dancing spin-off show It Takes Two 

She was previously forced to dismiss growing rumours of a feud after she was caught swiping his hand away following their live performance on Saturday

The professional dancer doubled down on her claims that their awkward Strictly Come Dancing exchange was an inside joke and added that fan reaction had ‘overshadowed’ their live performance

The incident caused such concern among BBC top brass, who have spent months firefighting accusations of misconduct on previous series, that a welfare investigation was conducted.

A source said: ‘The Strictly welfare team checked in on the pair individually to confirm that nothing was awry and that both were comfortable continuing with the partnership.

‘Training room researchers have kept meticulous logs of what goes on during rehearsals between every celebrity couple, and Wynne and Katya are no different.’

‘If there had been any form of misbehaviour or cause for concern, then it would have been flagged by the welfare team.

‘There hasn’t been and they consider the matter closed.’

The BBC confirmed that no further actions are planned.

Wynne, who has starred in the GoCompare adverts for over a decade, claims that he has been left ‘heartbroken’ by the fallout after some Strictly fans called for him to be axed from the show.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, where he presents a daily show, Wynne said: ‘I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day.

As the dancing duo gave the downlow about any secret romances going on behind the scenes in a recent interview, Wynne randomly steered the question onto Katya

He said: ‘I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day. 

The duo had become surprise favourites to win this year’s Strictly, scoring 34 out of 40 from the judges for their tango on Saturday.

‘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.

‘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.’

He agreed he had ‘misjudged it’, when interviewed on Radio Wales Breakfast before starting his own show on the station, and confirmed he was ‘absolutely still up for’ Strictly.

Wynne asked: ‘I’ve not seen anyone [getting close], are you getting close to anyone?’

He said: ‘I’m having the best time of my life. I just don’t want this to be the bit that people remember.’

On Sunday, Wynne and Katya released a video on Instagram saying they were ‘just messing around in the ‘Clauditorium’ the previous evening and just want to say sorry. It was a silly joke’.

But viewers of Sunday night’s results show were not convinced by the explanation, claiming they had spotted Katya appearing to ‘glare’ at her celebrity partner. 

During the show, Claudia asked Wynne how he felt, noting he looked shocked.

Wynne replied: ‘I am shocked because I didn’t think I’d survive week one so to be here after having done a tango is really thrilling.

‘And I had such a good time and thank you to Katya’s clever choreography.’

As Wynne gave his answer fans spotted that Katya remained stony faced and even appeared to wince as the opera singer evaluated his performance.

A Strictly source said: ‘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.

‘The welfare team have checked in on the pair and there are no further actions planned.’