Katya Jones and Seann Walsh have been dominating the headlines following their kiss last week, with the two forced to apologise for their "drunken mistake". And now former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Debbie McGee has criticised the apologies as the scandal was a "private issue". Speaking on The Telegraph's weekly Strictly podcast, Debbie explained: "Regarding the apology, my thought was I understand why it was done. It's a family programme and so they are protecting the image of the programme.
Katya Jones and Seann Walsh have been at the centre of a kissing scandal
She added: "But I thought, there's been so many footballers that have done far worse than this, and were they made to make an apology?" The 59-year-old, who appeared on the popular series last year alongside Giovanni Pernice, confessed that she felt sorry for everyone involved. "It really is a private thing," she shared. "I just feel sad for everybody but I think it will be forgotten in a couple of days."
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Debbie refused to comment on what she thought about the kiss since the pair were both in relationships at the time. "I can't make a comment because I made friends with Katya and Neil [Jones, her husband] last year and I love them both dearly," she continued. "They really are wonderful people. Everyone will have their own opinion on what we feel about it."
Debbie was partnered up with Giovanni Pernice in 2017
The comments come shortly after Jeremy Vine admitted he "understood" why Seann and Katya got close during these training sessions. The 53-year-old confessed he developed feelings for his professional partner Karen Clifton when he was on the show in 2015. Speaking on his new chat show, The Jeremy Vine Show, on Tuesday, the presenter explained: "I thought, 'Gosh, I can see why this happens' because you go into a completely different space. For me, I hadn't done any dancing. Suddenly I'm seeing someone who is like a goddess - super human."
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He added: "The power and the strength and grace of that person, and then you are spending eight, nine hours a day within two inches of them. It's a powerful thing, that's all I can say. I thought, 'I don't know what I'm feeling here.'" Jeremy, who is happily married to fellow journalist Rachel Schofield, revealed that his wife was unfazed by those feelings. "She was quite cool about it," he added. "Cool as in relaxed because I think she was quoting Sybil Fawlty who said, 'For goodness sake Basil, do you really think a woman like that would be interested in a brilliantine stick insect like you?'"
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