Karen Clifton avoided Carol Vorderman's questioning over Katya Jones and Seann Walsh's kiss on Wednesday's Lorraine. Carol, who is stepping in for chat show host Lorraine Kelly for half term, took a chance to quiz the Strictly Come Dancing dancer and her celebrity partner Charles Venn about the "kissgate" scandal which has been dominating headlines over the past few weeks. Avoiding the question, Karen simply replied: "The fact we've been in the bottom two, that's what we're focusing on, not to be in the bottom two for a third week. It's hard to focus on anything else going on really."
Karen Clifton and Charles Venn on Wednesday's Lorraine
The professional dancer - who split with fellow Strictly star Kevin Clifton earlier this year - went on to add: "Sometimes I don't even know who I am. Seriously, all we're thinking is how we're going to do our dance… Everybody is on the top of their game." The comments come shortly after Karen's former celebrity partner Jeremy Vine touched upon the subject on his new chat show, The Jeremy Vine Show. The 53-year-old, who appeared in the BBC ballroom series in 2015, confessed he developed feelings Karen, saying: "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?'" Meanwhile, this weekend for the Halloween special, Karen and Charles will be dancing the Jive to Time Warp from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
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