BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Sarah Hadland breaks silence on Wynne and Katya controversy

Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley were joined by Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola on Wednesday's instalment of This Morning and the hosts wasted no time in grilling the pair.

During Wednesday's episode of This Morning, Strictly Come Dancing stars Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola joined hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley for a chat.

Ben Shephard promptly addressed the recent controversy surrounding Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, which erupted after some videos of them went viral over the past week.

Discussing the scrutiny received by the dancing duo, Ben remarked: "It's been a difficult week in many ways, you're on the inside of it for Wynne and Katya. We saw what happened on the weekend and we've seen it since they've come out and made it very clear that they're great mates and it was a joke. But it is when you understand how forensically people are pouring over the show and they're looking for the slightest bit of information or nuance to what's been going on."

When queried by the ITV host about the pressure of being under constant observation by the audience, Sarah Hadland succinctly replied, offering an eight-word piece of advice, reports Birmingham Live.

She said: "You just have to be who you are. I think really, you've got to, especially with a show like Strictly when there is, as you say, so much attention. You've just had to go into it completely being yourself and keep doing that.

"You wouldn't, well I wouldn't be able to maintain something that isn't yourself. So, I think you just have to be who you are, react how you react to stuff and that's all you can do. I hope that people connect with that and appreciate that."

Ben voiced his concerns about the scrutiny faced by participants on the show, remarking: "They were just having a bit of fun, but actually that can get misconstrued and then that suddenly becomes a story."

In response, Vito told the This Morning presenter that authenticity is crucial, saying to be true to oneself while on the programme. The Strictly professional swiftly changed the subject, sharing with the hosts how he and Sarah always enjoy fun moments during practice.

The controversy over Wynne and Katya emerged after audiences on Saturday night noticed a brief interaction between them. Viewers were quick to point out when the Welsh singer placed his hand on Katya's waist, which she promptly moved aside.

Another moment catching public attention showed Katya seemingly snubbing a high-five from Wynne, turning away and rolling her eyes. Addressing these incidents on It Takes Two, Katya spoke up in defence of her celebrity partner.

Addressing the audience, she stated: "I will get onto dancing I promise but can I please first get something out of the way that I feel like overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason and quite frankly, actually, I can't bare sitting here watching this man [Wynne] 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 it was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes! Was it a bad joke? Yes! ".

This Morning continues weekdays on ITV from 10am.

Strictly Come Dancing continues this Saturday on BBC One from 6:25pm