Katya Jones has shared a special birthday message for her former Strictly partner, Joe McFadden. The pro dancer took to Instagram on Wednesday in celebration of Joe's special day, sharing two snapshots from their time on Strictly together – including the moment they lifted the 2017 Glitterball Trophy. "Happy birthday to my gorgeous champ @mrjoemcfadden!" she wrote. "This time two years ago we were learning chachacha, which didn't go so well. And look at you now starting in the massive musical, dancing in heels on stage!!! So so proud of you!!! Lots of love!" Joe, 44, and Katya, 30, danced their way to victory in the 2017 series of Strictly, beating joint runners up Alexandra Burke and Gorka Marquez and Debbie McGee and Giovanni Pernice to the top spot.
Katya Jones has shared a special birthday message for Joe McFadden
Katya has been partnered with BBC sports presenter Mike Bushell for the 2019 series of Strictly, and on Saturday the duo secured their place in week four of the competition by dancing the Cha-Cha-Cha to It's Raining Men from Magic Mike. The star found herself making headlines following the live show – and it had nothing to do with her dance moves! Katya slipped over on the dance floor, and later fell over again during the post-dance interview with Claudia Winkleman. Fans took to Twitter to speculate the reason with some even accusing the dancer of being 'drunk'. In response, Katya tweeted: "Guys! I'm totally fine. No idea what happened, so sorry. But so proud of @mikebreakfast for carrying on and delivering the dolphin!" She then clarified that her second fall had actually been on purpose: "FYI I did it again on purpose in Claudia's area! And I'm def not drunk as some people think."
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The Strictly star has been paired with Mike Bushell for the 2019 series
Dianne Buswell later came to Katya's defence during an appearance on Heart Breakfast. "Dianne the first question I'm going to ask you because it’s all over the papers this morning, was Katya a bit drunk at the weekend," asked host Amanda Holden, to which Dianne replied: "100 per cent not! No, Katya was not drunk. Katya is just… she’s quite funny Katya and she did it all in good fun and humour. So no, definitely not drunk."