BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Wynne Evans suffers fresh blow hours before live show

GoCompare star Wynne Evans and professional dance partner Katya Jones have been forced to apologise after two 'in-jokes' backfired on last weekend's live show

Strictly Come Dancing's Wynne Evans and Katya Jones have found themselves in the limelight this week for all the wrong reasons - and now it seems things could be getting even worse.

The Welsh opera star and his professional dance partner were compelled to apologise after last weekend's live show when they say two 'in-jokes' dramatically backfired. Fans of the BBC show quickly took to social media to comment on video clips that went viral - one that showed Katya apparently refusing to 'high five' Wynne and another featuring Wynne's hand wandering across her waist before she brushed it away.

Since then Wynne has said during an on-air chat with a Radio Wales colleague that he is "heartbroken" about the row over what he called a "misjudged" inside joke.

A week on, things don't seem to be improving as he's now received a last-minute blow ahead of week five's live show - the pair are among the favourites to be eliminated this weekend.

The GoCompare star was a 20/1 chance when betting opened at BetMGM, but the bookmaker has cut his price all the way down to 9/2 and he is now the third favourite to dance for the last time on Sunday evening, reports Wales Online.

Just a week before the ill-judged prank, Wynne was being touted as possibly following in the footsteps of previous winner Hamza Yassin, who came from nowhere to lift the Glitterball trophy.

Body language expert Darren Stanton, speaking for Betfair Slingo, had shared his insights suggesting Wynne is a front-runner to snag the Strictly crown due to his distinctive qualities.

"Wynne is a strong contender when it comes to winning the competition. He has something different to offer out of everyone else. You'll notice when he's receiving feedback, he actively listens, takes everything on board and wants to learn from it," shared Darren at the time.

"He reminds me of Hamza Yassin. No one expected him to win in the beginning, he was overlooked - but he was so passionate about learning and developing his skills. He's thrown himself into the process wholeheartedly and is giving everything his best shot."

Bookmakers are currently pegging Paul Merson as the likely celeb to bow out of Strictly this weekend with odds at 10/11, while Punam Krishan, who lingered at the bottom of last week's leaderboard, holds a 13/4 chance.

Sam Behar, UK Director at BetMGM, expressed: "Paul Merson might be the favourite to leave Strictly this weekend but Wynne Evans certainly isn't without a chance of leaving.

"He looked a lively outsider a couple of weeks ago in the outright betting but the news this week hasn't helped his chances and he's been very well-backed to exit on Sunday night.

"He opened up at 20/1 but is now just 9/2, with only Paul Merson (10/11) and Punam Krishan (13/4) shorter in the next elimination betting."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday on BBC One and is on BBC iPlayer