Gorka Marquez makes urgent plea to BBC Strictly fans over ‘scrutiny’ of stars amid Katya and Wynne scandal

Gorka Marquez has shared an appeal with BBC Strictly fans over the ongoing sagas that continue to engulf the show away from the dancefloor.

Following a tumultuous year in which a number of pros have left and an investigation into the conduct of its stars was launched, the 20th-anniversary series attempted to attract public attention back to the performances on the dancefloor.

But that’s proved to be a trickier task than anticipated with “fix” rows erupting among fans over Tasha Ghouri’s previous dance training, and outrage over bosses’ attempts to make Paul Merson a “joke act”.

Arguably the biggest scandal to hit the show this year, however, came courtesy of Wynne Evans and professional dancer Katya Jones.

The two were forced to apologise after they sparked rumours of a feud when Jones rejected a high-five from Evans, and they had to go public again with a statement after Jones was spotted moving Evans’ hand away as he caressed her waist and torso during a live show.

Jones and Evans branded the so-called “hand incident” as an “inside joke”, with the latter insisting he’d been “heartbroken” to see the outpouring of outrage at his antics.

With Jones and Evans having to publicly address two contentious incidents on the show following months of headlines regarding misconduct claims, pro dancer Marquez knows the weight of the task at hand to keep things running smoothly.

The Spanish pro is partnered with Dr Punam Krishan for the 2024 series and has experienced a rather mixed bag of results following their routines on the dancefloor.

However, they’ve managed to avoid any semblance of scandal and speaking to ITV’s Lorraine Kelly on Wednesday, Marquez addressed what it’s like performing with all eyes on you.

“Have you felt the pressure of more scrutiny on the show?” Kelly probed on her self-titled talk show. “Because you know people are obsessed with this show, so everything you do… it makes headlines as you’ve seen.”

Marquez replied: “Yeah, as you say, this year maybe everybody’s looking at you with more close eyes.

“But I feel like every year is the same, the show is the biggest show entertainment-wise and everybody loves the show and wants to see what happens on the show.

“I think us as the dancers and the celebrities have a huge impact on everybody who watches it.”

Wrapping up his answer, Marquez had a plea for those watching at home: “But for me, right now, we should focus on dance (and) the good things the show does.

“It’s been 20 years, you know, we should just celebrate,” he added, to which Kelly and Krishan nodded in agreement.

Marquez’s appeal to viewers comes less than 48 hours after Evans and Jones appeared on Strictly spin-off show, It Takes Two, to urge fans to move on.

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Jones addressed the fallout head-on, telling Fleur East: “Can I please first get something out of the way that I feel like has overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason?

“And quite frankly, I actually can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he’s not. In fact, it couldn’t be further away from the truth.

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

“Even the idea that he 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.”

The remaining 12 couples will all return to the ballroom for Week Five of the competition this weekend, with Evans and Jones tasked with a Quickstep to Mr Blue Sky by Electric Light Orchestra.

Meanwhile, Marquez and Krishan will be hoping to avoid another week at the bottom of the leaderboard when they perform a Viennese Waltz to She’s Always A Woman To Me by Billy Joel.