Hands off my wife, Seann!
Angry Neil in showdown with comic Walsh grovels over clinch with TV Katya
SHAMED Strictly star Seann Walsh got a rocket from furious dancer Neil Jones in a tense showdown before last night’s show.
The comedian, 32, begged forgiveness for snogging his TV dance partner Katya Jones, 29 – Neil’s wife.
In clear-the-air talks Jones accused Walsh of betrayal and told him to back off. A source said: “It was a tense meeting and Neil left Seann clear how unhappy he is. Neil told him in no uncertain terms about how he felt.
“He said he felt betrayed, especially when he trusted Seann. It was very much a case of him telling him to keep his hands to himself. Neil told him that the same thing could never happen again.
“Seann felt awful and was deeply apologetic. He wanted to meet with Neil to clear the air. That was the only way they could move forward.
“It was a really awkward meeting but they can just about be in the same place together now.”
Walsh and Katya triggered a Strictly storm after pictures showed them snogging in the street on a night out.
DUMPED
The kiss happened as Walsh’s girlfriend Rebecca Humphries, 32, was home alone – on her birthday. She has dumped him.
Yesterday it emerged Neil, 35, had been regularly speaking to Walsh in the days before the kiss and even helped the comic and Katya plan dance routines.
A friend said: “Neil was heartbroken. He and Seann were getting on really well, speaking a lot and Neil trusted him. He felt completely betrayed and was deeply hurt by what went on.”
Details of the meeting came as a flurry of bets were placed by punters who think Seann and Kayta will get the boot in tonight’s Strictly show.
Last night, however, they seemed to have ridden the storm, scoring 28 and earning praise from the judges for their charleston. Seann wore a chef’s hat and a red-and-white striped top that matched Katya’s.
The pair beamed and the audience gave reassuring cheers – as Neil watched close by. Presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman made only a cheeky reference to the storm. Opening the show Claudia said: “It’s been a quiet week” – and Tess quipped: “Just the odd headline.” Despite his wife’s betrayal, friends say Neil will not dump Kayta as he is still “hopelessly in love”. Our source said: “Neil doesn’t just feel betrayed – he has been humiliated and hurt. His marriage is very important to him, as is his professional partnership with Katya. He’s not in a good place at the moment.”
MOOD
Neil spent Thursday night with pal Gary Murray at the International Ballroom Dancing Championships at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Gary, who presents US show Dancing With The Stars, said: “Neil was there braving it all out, but it obviously put all
the pros in a different mood. Everyone gets on with Neil. I’m sure he doesn’t respect Seann at all right now.”
Neil had addressed the Strictly curse before the snog storm. In previously unpublished comments, he said: “I don’t worry about that.
“We are happy so it is all safe there. I don’t believe in the Strictly curse.
“If someone is going to come on to the show and they want to end up with somebody it is going to happen no matter what. If they are happy in their own relationship it won’t happen.
“I don’t think there is some power there where all of a sudden they walk in and they are really happy and they start dancing and they go ‘all of a sudden this has changed my life now, I’m going to run off with her’. I don’t think it happens.”
Seann and Katya publicly apologised for their kiss outside a West London pub. While he was quickly ditched by actor Rebecca, Katya said her five-year marriage to Neil was “absolutely fine”.
Rebecca went public and revealed she had suspected something was going on between Seann and Katya.
But she said the comic had branded her “nuts” and “psycho” when she challenged him.
Rebecca’s mum was left in tears by the furore and said she was “thrilled” her daughter had finally ditched