Following the shock elimination of Katya Jones and Lewis Cope on Strictly Come Dancing, PR expert Mayah Riaz has spoken with the Mirror about why it’s starting to feel that Katya ‘goes in every season already on the back foot’
As Katya Jones bows out of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing, an expert has opened up about the truth behind the pro dancer’s “rough run”, while confirming some fans’ long-held suspicions.
In what was regarded as a shock elimination by many, Katya and her dance partner, Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope, lost out in a tense dance-off against Amber Davies and Nikita Kuzmin and were sent packing. This is despite the pair having been frontrunners in the glittering competition for weeks.
Katya was in floods of tears and outraged viewers weren’t happy with the outcome either, with some even regarding the unexpected exit as a “fix”. It is thought that Lewis’ previous dance experience may have been to blame for the lack of the public vote. But in a bitter twist of irony, it was Amber’s ongoing dance experience as a West End star that saved her in the dance-off.
And this isn’t the first time Katya has had those watching at home locked in heated discussions. Ever since she first stepped into the ballroom back in 2016, the now 36-year-old’s Strictly journey has been filled with plenty of drama, particularly when it comes to the pairings she’s found herself in.
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Back in 2018, Katya caused a stir when she and then-partner, comedian Seann Walsh, were caught kissing outside a pub, despite both being in relationships at the time. In the wake of the scandal, Seann, who was dating actress Rebecca Humphries, fled to the States, and later expressed remorse over the episode in a 2022 stand-up show.
As for Katya, she and her now ex-husband, fellow dancer Neil Jones, went their separate ways in 2019, one year after that now infamous snog. Naturally, this series of events did nothing to quell rumours of a so-called “Strictly curse” that is said to rip couples apart, but it’s understood this controversy wasn’t the catalyst for the split.
Since then, Katya – who won the show in 2017 with Joe McFadden – has largely been paired with less able dancers from Tony Adams to Nigel Harman, both who who ended up having to pull out due to injury. Last year’s season also proved to be an awkward pairing for Katya, who was teamed up with opera singer Wynne Evans, best known for playing the fictional Gio Compario in Go.Compare insurance adverts. The Welsh tenor was booted off the Strictly live tour after making a lewd remark about Janette Manrara, who acts as a host on tour, using the demeaning term “spit roast”, in reference to an explicit sexual act. In a statement made at the time, Wynne told the Mirror: “My language was inappropriate and unacceptable, for which I sincerely apologise.”
Wynne previously faced backlash when he controversially placed his hand on Katya’s waist before appearing to move it closer to her stomach. Katya then appeared to brush Wynne’s hand away as the pair remained side by side. Both Katya and Wynne addressed the seemingly uncomfortable exchange in an Instagram video, in which they confirmed this interaction had just been a “silly joke”.
Each year, fans have argued that Katya has been “stitched up”, a suggestion PR expert Mayah Riaz agrees with. Speaking previously with the Mirror, Mayah remarked: “On Katya, I do think she’s had a rough run in recent years. She is one of the strongest and most creative pros on that floor, but she has absolutely been handed some tough partners. It has started to feel like she goes in every season already on the back foot.
“I would not call it a fix, but I would say it feels like she rarely gets a level playing field. And ironically, the one time she gets a genuinely strong partner again, he is labelled ‘too experienced’ and punished for it. The optics are not great. It looks like she can’t win either way. Too weak a partner, she’s dismissed. A strong partner, she’s penalised.”
Fans have also argued that Lewis and Katya were assigned the dreaded “death slot” by performing first, in what some regard as a deliberately unfavourable move. This is a position historically proven to result in lower scoring, with judges saving their best for later acts, making elimination more likely. Then, when the pair ended up in the dance-off, the “Judges’ Save” was introduced to keep the best dancers competing. However, critics argue that this move has become a means of overriding the public vote
On this note, Mayah reflected: “At the moment, it feels less about dancing and more about narrative control, and audiences are starting to clock it. There is also a bigger issue here around consistency. If previous dance experience is such a problem, then it should be applied across the board. You cannot ignore theatre and musical training for one contestant and weaponise it against another. Viewers see that, and they do not like it.
“With Lewis, I think he became a victim of perception rather than performance. He was not voted out because he was the weakest. He was voted out because the story around him shifted. And once that happens, it is incredibly hard to fight back. Strictly is still beloved, but moments like this chip away at trust. And once viewers feel that the journey is being manipulated, the magic starts to fade.”
Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com. Follow Mirror Celebs on Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
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Source: Mirror
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