Watch Wynne Evans' FULL apology video backstage at Strictly after they ordered him to cut it short after ‘gropegate'

The Irish Sun

a day ago

WYNNE Evans has released the FULL apology video he filmed backstage at Strictly, after he claimed he was ordered to cut it short following "gropegate".
It comes just a day after
8
Wynne Evans has shared the entire apology video he filmed backstage at Strictly following 'gropegate'
Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
8
'Gropegate' came when Wynne moved his hand over pro partner Katya Jones' waist on Strictly
Credit: BBC
8
Wynne has now released the video him and Katya made backstage
Credit: Instagram
8
Wynne faced a number of controversies during his time on Strictly Come Dancing that led to him being axed from the BBC
Credit: Splash
Today,
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'."
READ MORE ON WYNNE
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
?' ...
Most read in News TV
'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.'
Tearful Wynne Evans slams BBC in first TV interview since Strictly scandal
'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."
8
In the video the pair revealed it had all been a joke that had bacfired
Credit: Instagram
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."
8
The TV star danced with Katya on Strictly last year
Credit: The Mega Agency
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
During the interview,
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.
8
Yesterday, Wynne slammed the BBC saying they abandoned him in his darkest hour
Credit: ITV
'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
'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."
8
Wynne previously spoke to The Sun about the extent of his mental health battles following the scandal
Credit: Dan Charity
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.'