Wynne Evans was the eighth celebrity to leave Strictly Come Dancing on Sunday, and following his exit from the show, the singer has opened up about the media controversy during his stint on the BBC programme.
The 52-year-old and his dance partner, Katya Jones, made headlines earlier during the series after what they called a "running joke" backfired.
© Guy LevyIn an interview with BBC Wales Radio, he said: "I'm still astounded that people are allowed to write any, for want of a better word, lies that they want. I'm disappointed that I've seen that side of life."
He added: "Just as we have to believe people when something really has gone wrong, then we have to believe people when they say it was a joke. To keep going after that for days on end was pretty relentless, and I don't really know what happened there. It was certainly a really good lesson for me to focus on self-preservation and enjoying what should have been—and what was—a beautiful experience.
"I totally understand that people have misinterpreted that, and I get why people were upset, but what I can say is, it was a joke that sadly was misinterpreted."
© BBC"The Strictly family are perfect in every way," he said. "The press are a different kettle of fish."
The moments in question showed Wynne moving his hand around Katya's waist during an episode of the show, with the dancer pulling it back to her hip. Katya also appeared to reject a high-five from Wynne, which fans on social media were quick to criticise.
Following the incidents, Katya took to social media and assured fans that both situations had no malintent. Taking to X, she said: "Apologies for this tonight, we were just messing around. We really are amazing friends. The high fives are a running joke. Have a great evening."
© Guy LevyShe continued: "We just wanted to say we were messing around."
Katya also shared a video on Instagram Stories where she spoke about the situation, saying: "The hand incident that happened on Saturday night was a... very silly, very silly... inside joke between Wynne and me.
"So even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is complete nonsense. It's quite absurd, actually. Now, can we just focus on how brilliantly he's doing and what an amazing dancer he's becoming?"
Wynne, who said he was "heartbroken" by the misunderstanding, also came under scrutiny when he swapped an appearance on the spin-off show It Takes Two with fellow contestant Chris McCausland.
The BBC reported that during the conversation, Wynne referred to an article that claimed he "stormed out of the studio" and "was refusing to go on the show".
"It's just total fabrication of what actually happened," he said, explaining that Chris had asked to swap because he wanted to look at a school for his daughter.
