WYNNE Evans has released the FULL apology video he filmed backstage at Strictly, after he was ordered to cut it short following “gropegate”.
It comes just a day after Wynne, 53, accused the BBC of abandoning him in the wake of a series of controversies that erupted during and after his time on Strictly Come Dancing.
Wynne Evans has shared the entire apology video he filmed backstage at Strictly following ‘gropegate’[/caption]
‘Gropegate’ came when Wynne moved his hand over pro partner Katya Jones’ waist on Strictly[/caption]
Wynne has now released the video him and Katya made backstage[/caption]
Wynne faced a number of controversies during his time on Strictly Come Dancing that led to him being axed from the BBC[/caption]
Today, Wynne has released his apology video in full, after he was accused of inappropriately touching professional dancer Katya Jones during rehearsals.
He claims he was told to cut the video by the BBC, and so fans never saw or heard the whole truth about what happened.
On This Morning yesterday, Wynne revealed him and Katya had planned the moment that caused such a stir, and she dragged him to the cameras as they stood in the gallery with Claudia Winkleman.
He said: “Katya said to me, right you put your hand on my waist, I’ll move it back we’ll see if anybody picks it up. And boy did they pick it up. She drags me saying, ‘let’s get down the front’.”
Admitting there had been errors made, he said: “I totally understand why people were upset by that and I apologise.
“I don’t want to sit here today coming across as a victim because I’m not — I’m naive.”
He admitted they saw the backlash online almost immediately and he insisted they make an apology video on social media that night.
“Katya says to me, ‘Have you seen what people are saying on Twitter, Instagram?’ …
“I’m sat in make-up afterwards and I go, ‘Oh my word this is terrible.’
“I say, ‘We need to make an apology video.’
“So we did — it was 50 seconds long.”
He claimed the BBC made them cut the video down, which he believed was the wrong decision.
“They said just make it ten seconds,” Wynne told the hosts. “So of course it turns into some sort of hostage style video.
“It was just a body language experiment that was picked up on.”
Now to prove he did in fact make a longer apology video, Wynne has released it.
The video features both him and Katya backstage at Strictly, addressing the backlash of “gropegate” and revealing the truth behind the incident.
In the video, Katya kicked things off and said: “Hello everyone. We felt the need to clarify something.
“We find it quite fascinating how people take time to look into in such detail every gesture, every look.”
In the video the pair revealed it had all been a joke that had bacfired[/caption]
Continuing Wynne said: “So we thought we’ll mess around. And we said, ‘Oh I’ll put my hand on your waist, you pretend to move it away and let’s see who notices it.’
“And now everybody thinks I’m a weirdo.
“But really I promise you I’m not. And we’re doing this high ten thing as well where she blanks me from a high ten.”
Katya then said: “It’s all sort of planned just to see….”
Wynne added: “…if anybody notices. And like lots of people noticed.”
Katya then continued: “But we need to clarify that it’s all just messing around.
“It’s quite funny but not. It’s not funny.”
Wynne agreed: “It’s not funny.”
Katya then clarified: “He’s not a creep.”
“I’m not,” Wynne replied, before Katya added: “But he’s a brilliant dancer.”
The TV star danced with Katya on Strictly last year[/caption]
The video ended with Wynne, who said: “Thanks babes.”
Wynne captioned the video with: “The video that was too long for @bbcstrictly @bbccymruwales I think this tells it as it was.”
Fans flocked to share their sympathy for the star, with one saying: “Terrible the way you’ve been treated, Wynne. Stay strong.”
Another added: “This should have been shown in full!!!”
This one said: “Why didn’t they show us this – this almost destroyed you.”
The Sun has reached out to the BBC for a comment.
During Wynne’s This Morning interview, host Ben Shephard read out the following statement from the BBC: “For the avoidance of doubt, the video in question was filmed twice.
“All parties agreed at the time that the second more concise version would be better suited for social media.
“We know that people on social media have a very short attention span.”
SPEAKING OUT
Yesterday’s appearance on This Morning was Wynne’s first public TV appearance since the Strictly scandal erupted.
During the interview, the singer claimed he had not been contacted by the BBC after being axed from his Radio Wales show.
The corporation said he was offered a dedicated contact at the BBC and was offered “continued” mental health support since his contract concluded.
“I haven’t heard from the BBC since I got suspended, personally, they’ve only spoke to my lawyers”
“I just think that sometimes mental health is talked about … and sometimes I fear that it’s lip service that they give.
Yesterday, Wynne slammed the BBC saying they abandoned him in his darkest hour[/caption]
“Mental health is still a really grey area — where we can say we’ve got that policy in place, but actually you need to look after people with mental health issues.
“Because in the flip of a light switch, the light can go out.”
Wynne also used the interview as an opportunity to address several incidents that generated headlines during his time on the Strictly live tour.
He spoke about the now-infamous “sex toy” incident involving fellow contestant Jamie Borthwick.
“We’re on tour, spending 24 hours a day with people, you get to know people really well,” he said.
“It was a joke that went too far. He [Jamie] had been talking about this thing backstage — everyone in the dressing room was like, lets get him one.
“I ordered one off Amazon, and as soon as it arrived, it never left the dressing room, it went straight in the bin. The joke was over.”
Wynne previously spoke to The Sun about the extent of his mental health battles following the scandal[/caption]
DARK DAYS
It comes after Wynne told The Sun he wanted to take his own life in his darkest moments.
He only found out he’d been fired by the BBC after reading it in The Sun – and days later discovered his BBC pass was deactivated without warning.
He told us: “One of the things I was disappointed with the BBC about is I’ve spoken openly about my mental health, I’ve made programmes for the BBC about it, done stuff for Mental Health Day.
“I’ve done long interviews for them where I’ve talked about wanting to kill myself.
“Nobody should use that as an excuse if it’s not what they’re going through. But I’ve catalogued my mental health for years and I’ve been really open about it, so it was really hard and I felt like I was pushed to the real end.
“But I am feeling a lot stronger now.”
