Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke left viewers cringing after making a very awkward comment to Wynne Evans and Katya Jones during Saturday’s show. 

The couple have been embroiled in controversy after a toe-curling viral moment saw Katya, 35, move 52-year-old Wynne’s hand away from her waist and snub his high five, become claiming it was an inside joke.

Following their latest performance, a Rhumba for icons week, Anton, 58, shared his feedback which included advice about Wynne’s ‘spacial awareness’ to his partner.

Gushing over the routine, which also included the opera singer belting out a tune, the judge said: ‘The best ending to any number I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Unbelievable’.

He went on to say: ‘I want you to be aware of your spacial awareness to your partner you get either a bit too close to her or a bit too far away from her, but apart from that I want you to carry on as you are as your technique is looking marvelous’.

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Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke, 58,  left viewers cringing after making a very awkward comment to Wynne Evans and Katya Jones during Saturday’s show

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Following their latest performance, a Rhumba for icons week, Anton shared his feedback which included advice about Wynne’s ‘spacial awareness’ to his partner

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It comes week after a toe-curling viral moment saw Katya, 35, move 52-year-old Wynne’s hand away from her waist and snubbed his high five, become claiming it was an inside joke

Racing to X fans said: ‘”You get a bit too close to her” Awkward Anton, AWKWARD!’: ‘Anton to Wynne “I want to make you aware of your spacial awareness to your partner”‘: ‘Anton… most unfortunate comment ever about Wynne’s spacial awareness on relation to his partner’.

The couple scored an impressive 30 out of 40 for the routine which saw them land seventh on the leaderboard.

Katya has defended Wynne declaring he has been ‘portrayed as someone he is not’, as the pair insist his ‘wandering hand’ incident was a silly joke.

Appearing on spin-off series It Takes Two, Wynne admitted he had watched the footage of the incident back and confessed: ‘I can see how people may have misinterpreted it.’

Clinging to his arm, Katya said she ‘can’t bear’ the flack her co-star is getting and was empathetic that there was no wrongdoing.

She said: ‘The idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense, and those that have doubts, you guys have got it wrong. So hopefully this will be the end of it, and you just keep making me smile.’

She added: ‘I can’t sit here watching this man being portrayed as someone he’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further away from the truth.

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Gushing over the routine, which also included the opera singer belting out a tune, the judge said: ‘The best ending to any number I’ve ever seen in my entire life. Unbelievable’

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Before going on to say: ‘I want you to be aware of your spacial awareness to your partner you get either a bit too close to her or a bit too far away from her’

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Racing to X fans said: ‘”You get a bit too close to her” Awkward Anton, AWKWARD!’: ‘Anton to Wynne “I want to make you aware of your spacial awareness to your partner”‘

Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard: Icons week

JB Gill (Amy Dowden’s partner) and Lauren Oakley – Couple’s Choice to Bruno Mars Medley by Bruno Mars – 39

Tasha Ghouri & Aljaz Škorjanec – Couple’s Choice to What About Us by P!nk – 39

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola – Cha Cha to Like A Prayer by Madonna – 37

Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe – Waltz to I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston – 35

Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu – Quickstep to Help! by The Beatles – 35

Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas – Samba to Faith by George Michael – 31

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones – Rumba to This is My Life by Shirley Bassey – 30

Chris McCausland and Diane Buswell – Tango to Rock And Roll All Nite by KISS – 29

Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin – American Smooth to Love Story (Taylor’s Version) by Taylor Swift – 29

Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał – Salsa to Another One Bites The Dust by Queen – 22

‘So I have to make this absolutely clear that this whole incident, with the hand and the high five on Saturday night, was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes, was it a bad joke? Yes.’

However Wynne later found himself in further controversy after a ‘vulgar’ joke he reportedly made behind-the-scenes has been ‘leaked’.

The opera singer is reported to have quipped that his double chin resembled female genitalia as he got his make-up done backstage.

Insiders claim that Wynne made the unsavory joke ahead of the BBC contest’s glitzy launch show and was said in a private conversation with a make-up artist.

A source told The Mirror: ‘It was a bit of a vulgar dad joke.’

The publication states that at least one other person was in the room at the time, adding that the make-up artist was not offended by Wynne’s joke.

It is said that while formal complaints were made, staff members were not amused.

The insider went on to add: ‘Wynne clearly didn’t mean any offence, but you have to be a little bit careful these days.’

A friend of Wynne’s is said to have claimed that Wynne’s cheeky comment was ‘a slice of self-deprecation’ and said confidentially to the make-up artist while others were present.

MailOnline have contacted representatives of Strictly and Wynne for comment.comment.

Strictly Come Dancing 2024: Who are the couples?

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell 

JB Gill and Amy Dowden MBE 

Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk

Paul Merson and Karen Hauer 

Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał

Sam Quek MBE and Nikita Kuzmin

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola 

Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones

Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez 

Wynne Evans and Katya Jones

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Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec 

Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas

Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe 

Tom Dean MBE and Nadiya Bychkova

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Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu

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