Comedian Seann Walsh’ career prospects took a bad hit after he was spotted kissing Katya Jones, his professional dance partner on Strictly Come Dancing, in 2018.
At the time, Katya was married to her Strictly colleague Neil Jones, while Seann was in a longterm relationship with actress Rebecca Humphries.
The cheating scandal was one of the biggest controversies in Strictly history, especially after Rebecca issued a statement accusing the comedian of “gaslighting”, and coining him “toxic”.
I’m A Celeb fans were shocked to hear Seann, 36, would be one of the late arrivals on the ITV reality show.
The star revealed it was his new partner Grace, who is expecting a child with, who influenced his decision to go on the show.
READ MORE: I’m A Celeb Seann Walsh’s real name exposed after adding extra letter for unusual reason
He said: “As you can imagine I was very scared after the last time I was on a big show because the fallout was not something you would want to go back to.
“Grace talked me into doing it. She convinced me it was the wrong attitude to have not doing it because I feared what people would think, but to do it because I would have a wonderful time.”
Seann Walsh and Katya Jones’ cheating scandal
(Image: BBC)
Seann Walsh was part of the Strictly Come Dancing 2018 line up, the same year Stacey Dooley won with now boyfriend Kevin Clifton.
The comedian was partnered with Katya Jones, and on October 6 they were pictured kissing in an alleyway after drinking in a pub during the show.
Seann and Katya, who were both in relationships at the time, appeared on Strictly’s It Takes Two spin-off show to apologise for what had happened.
Katya insisted her marriage to Strictly’s Neil was “absolutely fine”, while Seann claimed his five year relationship with Rebecca had not been “perfect”.
The comedian told host Zoe Ball: “I think that, obviously I’m sorry for the hurt that I’ve caused.
“We were getting on well, we were having fun. We had a couple of drinks and made a huge mistake and I regret it deeply.
“I think first of all I would rather not be having to address this publicly, but I feel like I have to. I’m not perfect, far from it. Our relationship wasn’t perfect. That doesn’t mean I wanted it to end the way it finally did.”
(Image: Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Katya added: “I can’t apologise enough to everyone who it hurt and involved.
“But, the main thing — me and Neil are absolutely fine and that’s what matters to me the most right now and focusing on my job and doing it as professionally I can.”
Seann also mentioned the scandal on Twitter, saying: “In light of the story in today’s newspaper I would like to offer my sincere apologies for my actions. This is no excuse but it was a one-off drunken mistake which I am truly sorry for.”
Neil and Katya announced they were divorcing almost a year later, but a spokeswoman insisted it had been a recent decision, and was nothing to do with the scandal.
Seann went on to incorporate the scandal in his stand-up routines, jokingly saying at the Edinburgh Fringe that kissing Katya was like “kissing a gay man’s wife”.
In 2019 Seann opened up about how the scandal had affected his mental health, telling the Mirror that he had been left with depression, anxiety and was suffering panic attacks.
(Image: BBC)
Meanwhile, in 2020 Katya said she no longer had contact with him.
Seann also mentioned the scandal on I’m A Celebrity after being asked by Coronation Street’s Sue Cleaver.
After being asked whether it was “just a kiss,” Seann replied: “No, it was. Well, I don’t know which version… So, me and my dance partner, who was married, I was in a relationship, we were photographed kissing when we were on Strictly Come Dancing – not during the show, ha!”
Sue went on to ask why that “crucified him,” and why it had “such an impact,” to which the former Mock the Week comedian said: “To be totally honest with you, my poor ex, my girlfriend at the time, posted a statement and then, that was the end of me.”
The comedian’s ex girlfriend had hit out at the comedian for his “toxicity” and accused him of “gaslighting”.
In a column for The Guardian, Rebecca wrote: “For a brief while, I was one half of the poster couple for toxic love. I hadn’t even known that love shouldn’t look like it did for us, that an insidious loss of joy, opinion and confidence wasn’t what was required of me.”
(Image: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock)
Seann went on to describe an even more public apology, which took place on The Jonathan Ross show, saying: “I said sorry. I sat on Jonathan Ross’s TV show and apologised. I sat next to will.i.am and Samuel L Jackson and apologised.
“That will forever be the weirdest moment of my life and I have to say probably the worst moment of my life.”
Appearing on the show in 2019, he told the host: “Obviously I was stupid and I was selfish and I was hurtful to someone that I cared about and someone that I respected, and I still care about and still respect. I will always be sorry about what I did.
“I think when it all blew up, I don’t think I reacted in the correct manner. I didn’t know what to do, it was huge. It has been some time since then, I have had a lot of time to look at my actions, look at my behaviour and take responsibility as well.”
For more of the latest showbiz news from Daily Star, make sure you sign up to one of our newsletters here.
READ MORE:
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
