Strictly Come Dancing star Katya Jones has been dubbed 'brutal' by her former dance partner Ed Balls. The former MP-turned-presenter was at the helm of Good Morning Britain on Monday (November 7) when they spoke about the latest action in the ballroom this weekend.
There were tears on Sunday night (November 6) as Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds and her dance partner Nikita Kuzmin became the sixth couple to leave the BBC One dance contest during the latest results show.
Following another stand-out live show on Saturday (November 5), the five-time Paralympic gold medallist and broadcaster, 27, found herself in the dreaded dance-off against 21-year-old singer and former Britain’s Got Talent finalist Molly Rainford.
Ellie and Nikita reprised their lively Charleston to Too Darn Hot from Kiss Me Kate in a bid to impress the judges while Molly and her partner Carlos Gu again performed their foxtrot to You Make Me Happy by My Sun and My Stars, which saw them land 35 points during the live show.
But there was another moment on Saturday night that caught viewers' attention. Strictly fans took to social media to ask if all was okay after they spotted dance partners Katy and Tony Adams appearing to be "having words."
The pair were the last couple of the night to perform and they tore up the dancefloor on the BBC dance contest with their salsa to I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. However, as they faced the judges they looked gutted as they were pulled up on mistakes.
Katya spoke out when head judge Shirley Ballas said: "Tony, I actually thought you tried to give me a rotation when you stepped back." Looking upset she told Shirley: "He did, all week, do you eant to see it again?" As Tony clapped his hand to his head, Shirley reassured: "Tony don't despair. You had a lovely sense of line in the middle, and you had some nice rotation."
But just before the credits rolled on the show, Tony and Katya looked as though they were in the middle of an intense discussion on the dancefloor as hosts Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly jovially drew the latest action in the ballroom to a close.
During Monday's GMB, Susanna appeared keen to discuss the moment with the show's stand-in entertainment reporter Vick Hope. But Ed, who was partnered with Katya during the 2016 series, was keen to defend the dance. "I think that was Katya doing Katya-style coaching, which in my experience, can be brutal," he said.
"She’s really tough. She’s a world champion." When Susanna suggested that Katya and former Arsenal star Tony were ‘all sweetness and light’ at the end of the episode, Ed responded: "That’s because she turned to the camera and started to smile. Before that, she’d be saying, 'What are you doing? What are you doing?! Tony?! Focus!'"
Ed added: "There was one moment when were practising the Jive, she was so brutal to me I had to go and stand in the kitchen for five minutes while Neil [Jones] said to her, 'Katya, he’s only got so much bounce.'"
But taking to social media following the latest results, Katya dispelled any rumours of a conflict as she heaped praise on Tony and thanked fans for keeping them in the competition. "THANK YOU for voting us through to week 8!! We are beyond grateful," she wrote.
"And we hope you can see how hard we are trying! So if you want to see us dance another week, we will keep doing so trying our best! @tonyadamsofficial impresses me every day! I'm just loving every single day teaching him to dance, seeing his improvement and growth!"
She added: "We are not here to play it safe, cause life really begins at the end of your comfort zone! Let's gooooo." A short while later, Tony wrote on Instagram Stories: "Thanks to everyone who voted for us to dance again. Let's go Jive."
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- BBC Strictly Come Dancing's Nikita Kuzmin told the same thing as he pays tribute to silent Ellie Simmonds after emotional exit
- BBC Strictly Come Dancing fans point out same issue during Luke Evans' 'beautiful' performance
- BBC Strictly fans 'broken' and 'sobbing' over 'saddest departure' in show's history
- BBC Strictly fans' 'brain hurt' as they double take over same issue with Luke Evans' guest performance
- 'She's being bullied online' - Strictly dancer Dianne Buswell defends head judge Shirley Ballas for getting her name wrong
