Wynne Evans in 'big danger' of Strictly Come Dancing axe after 'controversy'

Strictly Come Dancing's Wynne Evans could be at risk on the BBC dance show following the 'controversy' with Katya Jones at the weekend

BBC Strictly Come Dancing contenstant Wynne Evans' place on the BBC show could be in jeopardy following the 'controversy' of last weekend.

According to the latest bookies' odds, the Welsh opera singer is the 5/1 third favourite to get the boot, while his popularity to go all the way has also plummeted, with his odds being pushed out to 33/1 from 20/1.

Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: “Wynne Evans was embroiled in controversy over the weekend which has taken a big toll on his popularity. He is now in the danger zone to be the fourth celebrity eliminated from the show.”

The news comes after a clip from Saturday's live show appeared to show professional dance partner Katya Jones quickly adjusting Wynne's hand as it moved across her waist, sparking rumours of tension. This was exacerbated as another clip appeared to show Katya ignore Wynne as he tried to 'high five' her.

After the clips were shared on social media prompting a flurry of comments, the pair posted a video in which they issued an apology to fans and said it was a long-running 'joke' between them before Katya uploaded a separate video. She emphasised the Go Compare favourite had not made her feel "uncomfortable or offended", labelling the speculation as “complete nonsense” and "actually absurd".

She emphasised: "The hand incident that happened on Saturday night was 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. It's actually absurd."

Ahead of his BBC Radio Wales show on Monday morning, Wynne said in the handover that he had been left "heartbroken" by the situation.

The broadcaster was asked by his colleague about his weekend. "Firstly I would say that I'm absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day and it's hard. 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. We thought it was funny. It wasn't funny. It has being totally misinterpreted.

"Everything's on Katya's socials. She's talked about it. She's explained 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 just a joke, and 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."

Paul Merson continues to be favourite in the next elimination market at 6/5. Chris McCausland remains the public’s favourite contestant and is the one to beat at 6/5. Tasha Ghouri remains hot on his heels at 11/4, after topping the leaderboard.

Strictly Come Dancing is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer