'I watched Wynne Evans and Katya Jones on Strictly live - here's what really happened between them'

BBC Radio 2 presenter Wynne Evans has seen his odds of winning Strictly Come Dancing plummet after he and partner Katya Jones were caught up in a controversy

Strictly Come Dancing stars Wynne Evans and Katya Jones have been at the centre of controversy this week after viral clips of them on Saturday night caused a wave of backlash.

In one scene, Wynne could be seen trying to give his dance partner a high five, although she rejected the gesture and seemed to roll her eyes.

Another clip shows the opera singer with his hand around her waist, before she moves it away, with many viewers unimpressed with the gesture.

However, the Mirror's TV editor Nicola Methven was one of the people in the audience during the live show and wants to set the record straight on what actually happened between them.

Here's what she said on the matter: "For those of us in the audience, and likely many viewers at home, it was evident that the entire incident was just some playful banter gone awry.

"I knew it wasn't genuine. The giveaway? The fact that Katya not only threw her arms around Wynne's neck but also jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his waist.

"There's no way she would have done that if she genuinely perceived him as a creepy sex pest. Absolutely no chance. Case dismissed. So, the high-five moment and the sneaky hand-on-the-waist moment were merely the two sharing an inside joke. Ha, ha, ha.

"But in front of live TV cameras - have they lost their minds? One can't help but ponder what was going through their minds when they chose to act in such a manner while the nation watched on."

Over the past year, the BBC show has faced its fair share of controversies, following allegations made surrounding former professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano di Prima.

This means that with Strictly under more scrutiny than ever, the show wouldn't dismiss any behaviour as a bit of fun, unless it was genuinely harmless.

Since the mass wave of backlash, both Katya and Wynne have apologised with the pair addressing the issue on It Takes Two this week.

Katya said: "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!"

The Mirror editor added that Wynne has learned the hard way that a single out-of-context clip that spreads online can paint you as a sinister figure lurking in plain sight.

She said: "As Wynne has now discovered, to his cost, it only takes one clip to go viral, with no context, to make you look like a horrible predator, operating in plain sight.

"To be clear, I don’t think he is, remotely, that person. Wynne and Katya have been left reeling over just how much their jokey bantz has backfired. But he is a BBC radio presenter and she is a seasoned pro on the Saturday night show (who’s been caught out with scandals in the past) so you’d really think each of them would have known better.

"Viewers quickly pointed out that, whatever the truth behind what was going on, it was in poor taste and “not at all funny”. The sad truth is that too many women have been groped for real by men who have then turned round and said it was just a joke. So it was easy for many to not believe their insistence that everything was fine and dandy.

"The Welsh opera singer is now the 5/1 third favourite to get the boot next weekend, while his odds to lift the glitterball have plummeted, pushed out to 33/1 from 20/1.

"One of the great pities is that this will serve as a reminder to people of all the problems that went on last year, making them suspect that they are still going on, even with the shedload of measures brought in to protect the dancers and contestants by the BBC."

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