Domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid have slammed the BBC following the Wynne Evans and Katya Jones ‘hand grope’ scandal.

The pair have come under fire this week after defending an awkward exchange during Saturday’s show, when Katya moved his hand away from her waist and snubbed a high-five.

Both Wynne and Katya have insisted an awkward ‘hand incident’ was the result of an unexplained ‘in-joke’, with the BBC later confirming ‘Katya was not offended’ and the ‘welfare and production teams have checked in’ with them both.

However, Women’s Aid have slammed the pair’s response, insisting that ‘inappropriate behaviour towards women is no laughing matter.’

In a statement to The Sun, they said: ‘With an epidemic of misogyny and violence against women and girls in the UK, we need a media culture where women feel safe to speak up, where sexually inappropriate conduct is not trivialised or joked about.

Domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid have slammed the BBC following the Wynne Evans and Katya Jones ‘hand grope’ scandal

The pair have come under fire this week after defending an awkward exchange during Saturday’s show, when Katya moved his hand away from her waist and snubbed a high-five 

‘It’s important we challenge inappropriate ‘jokes’ so we don’t continue normalising toxic attitudes that cultivate these forms of gender-based abuse.’

MailOnline has contacted representatives for Wynne Evans, Katya Jones and the BBC for comment. 

Wynne, who was once a frontrunner for the Glitterball Trophy, is now in danger of being booted off with bookies odds being 5/1 to be sent packing. 

Fans have also claimed they’ve figured out the origin of Wynne and Katya’s inside joke, with many sharing their thoughts to X about what the joke could be. 

One person posted: ‘One explanation given to me was they they were poking fun at other couples for all their hugging and kissing and that’s why they can’t say what the joke was.’ 

Others added: ‘I actually think that Katya and Wynne drama was just silly banter you could tell how he was laughing it was like she said an inside joke’; 

‘I re-watched – Katya was touching Wynne constantly while they were being given feedback. She could have just held his hand if there was a problem between them. Wynne was giggling during the hand incident, which made me believe it was a joke between them’; 

‘I don’t know either of them but if Katya says it was a joke maybe it was. Wynne got poked in the tummy by Neil as he went to speak to Claudia and that was clearly a joke’; 

The pair have insisted an awkward ‘hand incident’ was the result of an unexplained ‘in-joke’, but Women’s Aid have said that ‘inappropriate behaviour is no laughing matter’

Fans now think they have it all figured out, with many sharing their thoughts to X about what the joke could be

‘Katya and Wynne: The high 5 dodging. I think it was a private joke. The hand movement is probably not how it looks. Maybe W hand slipped unintentionally and K was moving it back to avoid all this drama. I think everyone needs to relax & stop looking for drama;’ 

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

On Monday evening’s TV appearance, 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.’

‘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. 

‘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.’

The incident caused such concern among BBC top brass, who have spent months firefighting accusations of misconduct on previous series, that a welfare investigation was conducted.