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The Marvel series Agatha All Along has answered a long-running music mystery by revealing that Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” is in fact witch Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn).

In the latest episode, a series of news clippings explain Agatha’s origins by showing that she survived the Salem Witch Trials in 1692, the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 and the 1937 Hindenberg disaster.

Another clipping shows a black-and-white screenshot of a blonde woman slapping Agatha. It is headlined: “Does This 1972 Surveillance Photo of Dolly Parton Show the Real Jolene?”

In a new interview with The Wrap, Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer was asked to confirm whether Agatha really is Jolene. “In the MCU, hell yeah,” he replied.

Schaeffer went on to explain that the idea for the music reference came from writer Laura Donney, after the writers’ room was given the “fun assignment” of coming up with “five low-level, nefarious things that Agatha has done in her deep past.”

Schaeffer added: “And it was one of, I remember being one of the most fun days in the room, was everybody coming in with their sort of low-level Agatha nasties. And that was Laura Donney, she was like, ‘she’s Jolene.’ And we were just like, everybody fell out. It was so funny.”

Parton’s song famously identifies Jolene only as a beauty “beyond compare” with “flaming locks of auburn hair.”

In 2022, The Independent’s Robert Webb investigated the origins of Parton’s signature hit. He found that Parton had once credited its inspiration to a young fan of her sometime collaborator Porter Wagoner. “When I used to work with Porter, we used to sit on the stage after a show and sign autographs,” Parton recalled. “One night this little redheaded girl with the prettiest eyes and the prettiest hair I had ever seen was looking up at me. She was maybe 10 or 12.” Parton asked her name: it was Jolene.

Last month, Hahn shared an insight into how the opening scenes of Agatha All Along, a spin-off from previous series WandaVision, came to include Marvel’s first female bare bum shot.

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At the end of WandaVision, Agatha was trapped in containment, but in the opening of the first episode of Agatha All Along, she wakes up back in the suburb where most of the original series took place.

She wanders out into the streets looking for answers about what’s going on – naked.

“I thought it was good to see her as stripped down, literally, as we possibly could, which spoke into her powerlessness at the present moment,” Hahn told Variety.

“[Agatha has] been stripped of all of her power at this point in the series. I mean, she really had nothing at that point, and so it became about illustrating that gap between that moment and her finding her power again.”

THE Wheel has been hit with more “dodgy fix” claims after fans accused Michael McIntyre’s show of deliberately posing an “easy” last question.

Contestant Callum found himself in the final hot seat on this weekend’s The Wheel and chose to pair up with lowest celebrity scorer Angela Scanlon.

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This meant he was in line to scoop a top prize fund of £86,000 if they could answer their question correctly.

Callum was faced with the categories Flags, Movies and Sausages.

He told host Michael that hoped for “movies, movies, movies” when asked which category he’d ideally want his cash-out question to come from.

And as if luck would have it, seconds later The Wheel landed on Movies.

“Oooh, oh, Callum,” Michael said. “I’ve got to tell you, it’s so rare that happens. It’s always a one in three but I always ask people and it very rarely lands.”

Callum’s good fortune then went one step further when the self-confessed Avengers fan was quizzed about The Avengers.

He was asked: “In which of these films does a British-born actor star as the title character?”

The multiple choice answers were: Thor, Captain Marvel and Black Widow.

Looking chuffed as the 30-second clock began ticking, Callum told Angela: “Okay, so I’m an absolutely huge, huge Marvel fan.

“Thank God, go on,” Angela replied.

Callum proceeded to tell Angela that Australian actor Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, American actress Brie Larson plays Captain Marvel and that fellow American Scarlett Johansson plays Black Widow.

Angela butted in: “Dr Strange is Benedict Cumberbatch.”

Making a joke about his name, Callum agreed: “Doctor Strange is Benedict Cucumber Patch, so it’s got to be Dr Strange.”

Getting excited, Angela urged: “It’s him, it’s him!”

Callum nervously tapped his knees with both hands and briefly closed his eyes after locking in Dr Strange.

Irish broadcaster Angela, meanwhile sat with her head resting on her hands in a prayer pose.

After a tense few seconds, it was confirmed Callum had answered correctly, meaning sure he walked away with the top prize fund.

He put his head in his hands as the studio lit up in gold with £86,000 plastered on a huge screen.

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But fans at home felt the final had been fixed for Callum to end up with the top sum of money in his pocket, as the question had been so easy.

Complaining on X, formerly known as Twitter, one viewer wrote: “What a pathetically easy question for 86k!!!”

Another added: “I’m sorry what?! 86k just because you know Benedict Cumberbatch is British? That’s crazy sign me tf up now!”

A third remarked: “How easy was that question?”

And someone else raged: “They were very easy questions, dodgy fix there.”

This is the second week in a row that fans have accused The Wheel of being ‘fixed’.

Last Saturday saw mum-of-two Hala pocket £21,500 on the final question.

Earlier in the show, Hala had revealed that she would use any winnings to help her get married again.

She explained how, 10 years before, she had been hospitalised with a rare disorder that left her unable to walk and she had married her husband from her hospital bed.

Cynical fans felt Hala – who was partnered with Jonathan Ross – was set to win after being asked which member of The Beatles played bass guitar.

In echos of the latest show, one viewer moaned at the time: “The last question was ridiculously easy!”

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Strictly Come Dancing viewers were left complaining just seconds into Saturday (19 October) night’s show, with the introductions failing to entertain those at home.

There are 12 couples remaining after Nick Knowles and Luba Mushtuk’s exit on Sunday night, making them the third pair to be eliminated from this year’s competition.

However, before the dancing even began the viewers were left baffled by the decisions surrounding the new intro to the show, which involved the fours judges dancing their way out to the show’s main tune while Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman awkwardly shuffled behind them.

Then after Daly and Winkleman had begun presenting the celebrities and their professional dance partners were introduced to the audience on the stage behind them.

People at home called the introducing “surreal” and felt that it lacked atmosphere and failed to set an atmosphere for the episode.

One person wrote: “Can we please go back to having the #Strictly theme playing when the stars are introduced? It really created the atmosphere.”

A second added: “HATE the way they don’t introduce Tess and Claude anymore with the “Live from the BBC” and Dave Arch wagging his finger… really takes away from the atmosphere.”

A third said: “We really don’t need the judges dancing, so cringe.”

A fourth person wrote: “Dear #Strictly Can we please go back to using the theme tune for the celeb intros. You’re ruining the vibe. Thank you.”

This Saturday night’s show does not have a theme so viewers can expect a wide but eclectic variety of dances, including Paul Merson dancing a Samba to Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” and Pete Wicks dancing a Rumba to Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger”.

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This week’s dances include two Sambas and two Quicksteps, plus a couple’s choice routine for Montell Douglas and her pro partner Johannes Radebe.

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will dance a Waltz to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Gerry and the Pacemakers, while Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola will dance a Samba to “Do It Do It Again” by Rafaella Carrà.

Want to watch Strictly Come Dancing while travelling abroad? Then you’ll need a VPN to stream this show. Discover the UK’s best VPN deals today. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

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It’s been a tough week for Strictly Come Dancing. After two professionals’ exits cast a shadow over the start of the series, Wynne Evans and Katya Jones found themselves at the centre of a fresh controversy surrounding two short clips from last week’s live show. In the coming days, they rushed to apologise and insisted they were joking around, with Jones labelling the saga “absurd”.

Still, plenty of viewers had wondered if it would be mentioned in this weekend’s live show. In the end, just like the pre-series drama, it went unaddressed (unless you count Evans sheepishly remarking “I do love comedy” while being interviewed by Claudia Winkleman).

Its omission didn’t matter at all, though, and soon became a footnote of the episode. This week’s Strictly Come Dancing instead celebrated two of the things that make it so great; its diversity and inclusivity.

Having provided plenty of laughs, swipes at Craig Revel Horwood and some of the most impressive lifts of the series so far, Chris McCausland this week put his serious hat on for a Waltz to the anthemic “You’ll Never Walk Alone”. The comedian, a Liverpool supporter from the city, was clearly desperate to get this one right. And it couldn’t have gone much better.

McCausland lost his sight when he was 22 and while the judges are committed to critiquing him exactly as they do the others, his achievements are undoubtedly more significant given the challenges he overcomes in training. His professional partner Dianne Buswell can’t show him the moves, and he can’t swot up on YouTube or watch performances back.

In one particularly poignant moment on Saturday, McCausland was left to dance under the spotlight alone. As the camera panned out, Buswell came into view and he confidently yet gracefully strode alone towards her. It was a moment steeped in emotion, heightened even further by the gravity of what McCausland is achieving on the show. If I wasn’t already in tears from the routine, then hearing him ask Buswell if he “did okay” as they embraced afterwards would have tipped me over the edge.

The second of tonight’s highlights came courtesy of Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe, as they danced a Carnival-inspired Couple’s Choice. The routine celebrated both Douglas’s Caribbean roots and her partner’s upbringing in South Africa.

In their VT, Douglas explained the dance was also a homage to her late grandmother, who gave her “the spirit of dance, love and movement”. The performance (complete with outfit reveals) was joyous and uplifting, with Douglas properly shining on the dancefloor for the first time this series.

“All I can say is Nana is looking down on you and she has sprinkled her magic dust on you because you were exceptional,” Shirley Ballas told the Gladiators star.

The show is at its best when celebrations of diversity and inclusivity are front and centre. Doing so is nothing new for Strictly either.

In 2022, Hamza Yassin celebrated Afrobeats with a dance that saw him become a serious contender (he went on to win). Rose Aying-Ellis, who lifted the Glitterball trophy in 2021, invited viewers to learn what dancing is like while deaf as the ballroom fell silent during hers. Two years earlier, Will Bayley — who was born with arthrogryposis, a condition affecting his joints — danced a routine which told his story of spending extended periods in hospital as a child. And just weeks ago, Punam Krishan made history with a Bollywood dance.

These moments, not the controversies, are what Strictly is all about.

STRICTLY Come Dancing fans were shocked to spot a familiar face in the audience – years after they spectacularly quit the series.

On Saturday night’s live show, as Tess Daly was talking to the camera, former professional star Brendan Cole was seen beaming in the seats behind her.

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Longtime fans were shocked to see his return, particularly as his exit was less than ceremonious – but were delighted to see him.

Talking on X (formerly Twitter), one shared a grab and wrote: “that is Brendan Cole, right? We’re not just hallucinating Ghosts of Strictly’s Past?”

“Brendan in the audience ???? Bring him back onto the show pleasseee I miss his drama,” said another.

A third wrote: “Nice to see OG Strictly Bad Boy Brendan Cole still turns up!”

“Surprised they let him back,” noted a fourth, prompting the response: “I know! Truly thought that bridge was burned.”

Brendan was a regular face on the series when it began in 2004, becoming a fan favourite and the first ever winner of the glitterball trophy alongside Natasha Kaplinsky.

The New Zealand dancer became known for hitting back against judges’ critiques he didn’t agree with, at times having on-air arguments with them.

He was also labelled ‘difficult to work with’ by other members of the team and former partners.

He eventually left the show in 2017, with Good Morning Britain’s Charlotte Hawkins being his last partner.

Announcing his exit ahead of the 2018 series, Brendan said that the BBC had “decided not to renew his contract”.

He said on Lorraine Kelly’s chat show: “They’ve just made an editorial decision to not have me back on the show.

They’ve made an editorial decision to not have me back on the show. I’m a little bit in shock. I’m quite emotional, and a bit raw about it.

“It’s done via a process of a phone call and stuff. I have had 15 incredible series on the show. I’m very proud of the whole show. It’s a great team.”

Brendan’s behaviour towards to head judge Shirley Ballas was apparently the final straw for Strictly bosses, who had decided enough was enough.

The Sun Online revealed the panel forced bosses to drop the dancer following his on-air spat with the head judge.

A insider told us: “It was the final nail in his coffin. That was the moment when they decided they’d had enough.

“The judges felt he was putting her down publicly and he thought he knew better than the head judge.

“They thought it was totally disrespectful.”

Brendan has since appeared as a contestant on Dancing on Ice, winning the series.

He is now on tour with a team of Strictly alumni, joining Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev, James Jordan and Vincent Simone for Legends Of The Dancefloor.

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Strictly Come Dancing was back on BBC One for week five of the competition after a rollercoaster few days on and off the screen for the show.

Liverpudlian Chris McCausland delivered the most emotional moment of the night with a Waltz to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” that left head judge Shirley Ballas in tears. He landed a score of 35, putting him third on the leaderboard.

While last Saturday saw former Love Island star Tasha Ghouri awarded the first 10s of the series so far and top the leaderboard yet again, this week she fell to fourth as two other celebrities shared first place. The honour went to Jamie Borthwick, who performed a Pasodoble with Michelle Tsiakkas, and Montell Douglas, who together with Johannes Rabede closed the show with a Couple’s Choice. Both pairs scored 39, with all judges apart from Craig Revel Horwood giving them 10s.

Last week’s episode was not without controversy — but it went unaddressed in tonight’s show. Towards the end of last Saturday’s programme, the celebrities and their professional partners gathered in the “Clauditorium” – the upstairs area where host Claudia Winkleman chats to the contestants in between performances – before the voting lines opened, just as they do every week.

Dancer Katya Jones was captured on camera as she appeared to move opera singer Wynne Evans’s hand off her midriff and onto her hip. Earlier in the show, she seemed to reject a high five from her partner. Seeing these two incidents in quick succession moved viewers to start speculating about whether Jones was feeling uneasy.

The pair quickly moved to shut down the rumour mill, sharing an Instagram video in which they said they were “just messing around”. In his post, Evans wrote the high fives were a “running joke” between them. Jones, a Strictly veteran of eight years, later doubled down with another video on Sunday, describing the row as “quite absurd” and asking fans to focus their attention on Evans’s “amazing” progress in the competition.

Fans had speculated about whether the pair would mention the controversy during the live show, but they decided against it.

Strictly Come Dancing reveals songs and dances for week five

This Saturday night’s show does not have a theme so viewers can expect a wide but eclectic variety of dances, including Paul Merson dancing a Samba to Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” and Pete Wicks dancing a Rumba to Oasis’s “Don’t Look Back in Anger”. This week’s dances include two Sambas and two Quicksteps, plus a couple’s choice routine for Montell Douglas and her pro partner Johannes Radebe.

Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will dance a Waltz to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Gerry and the Pacemakers, while Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola will dance a Samba to “Do It Do It Again” by Rafaella Carrà.

Find the full list of songs and dances for week five below: Montell Douglas and Johannes Radebe will dance a Couple’s Choice to “Skeleton Move” by KG and Zanda Zakuza

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Punam Krishan and Gorka Márquez will dance a Viennese Waltz to “She’s Always A Woman To Me” by Billy Joel

Sam Quek and Nikita Kuzmin will dance a Quickstep to “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield

Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola will dance a Samba to “Do It Do It Again” by Rafaella Carrà

Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec will dance a Tango to “Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + The Machine Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell will dance a Waltz to “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Gerry and the Pacemakers

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Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas will dance a Pasodoble to “Malagueña” by Ernesto Lecuona JB Gill and Amy Dowden will dance a Jive to “Hey Ya!” by Outkast

Paul Merson and Karen Hauer will dance a Samba to “Car Wash” by Rose Royce

Pete Wicks and Jowita Przystał will dance a Rumba to “Don’t Look Back In Anger” by Oasis

Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu will dance an American Smooth to “Get Here” by Sam Smith Wynne Evans and Katya Jones will dance a Quickstep to “Mr Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra

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Greg Evans19 October 2024 12:55

Chris McCausland praises Strictly singer’s rendition of Liverpool anthem

Liverpool footbal club fan Chris McCausland has praised Strictly singer Tommy Blaize after he shared a snippet of tonight’s performance of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” the anthem of the Mersyside team.

Blaize, who is also a supporter of The Reds, wrote on X/Twitter: “Every once in a while I get to sing one very close to my heart.” He accompanied the post with a video of him singing the song while wearing a Liverpool shirt.

In response, McCausland said: “And this just makes it even more special for me. Tommy Knox it out of the park every time he sings, I just hope I can do the same with the dancing bit.“

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And this just makes it even more special for me. Tommy Knox it out of the park every time he sings, I just hope I can do the same with the dancing bit. #YNWA #Strictly https://t.co/WxjbtOFyfz

— Chris McCausland – New tour on sale now! 🎫 (@chrismccausland) October 19, 2024

Greg Evans19 October 2024 13:30

Wynne Evans ‘heartbroken’ by response to hand interaction with Katya Jones

“I’m absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day,” he told BBC Radio Wales on 14 October. “It’s not nice to live in that time, but basically Katya and I are really, really close and we’re really good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke.”

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He explained,“It was a stupid joke that went wrong, okay, we thought it was funny. It wasn’t funny. It has been totally misinterpreted.”

Referring to social media reaction online, in which both clips have since gone viral, Evans said: “Everything’s on Katya’s socials. She’s talked about it. She’s explained that it was a joke. She wasn’t offended in the least. She doesn’t feel uncomfortable.”

Greg Evans19 October 2024 14:00

Strictly pro makes admission about ‘silly inside joke’ after Wynne Evans hand fiasco

Despite Jones calling the fiasco “nonsense” and “absurd”, Evans still found himself receiving criticism, leading the pro to defend the star on companion show It Takes Two on Monday (16 October).

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Jones said that she “can’t bear” seeing Evans in distress over the situation, calling the interactions nothing more than an “inside joke”. However, Jones admitted the joke was “silly” and “bad”.

After Evans said he can see why viewers “may have misinterpreted” his hand placement, his professional partner continued: “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.

She then stated: “Was it a silly joke? Yes, was it a bad joke? Yes.”

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Greg Evans19 October 2024 14:30

Tasha Ghouri deserved Strictly Come Dancing’s first 10s of 2024 – but don’t write off the underdogs yet

Former Love Island star has impressed the judges every time she’s stepped on the dancefloor and her Coachella themed Charleston to “Unhealthy” by Anne-Marie and Shania Twain left three of them reaching for their 10 paddles.

But scoring the first 10s of the series is far from a guarantee that a celebrity will get their hands on the Glitterball trophy. And for the last two years, the person to do so hasn’t even made it to the final.

Comedian Eddie Kadi and pro partner Karen Hauer landed the first 10 of Strictly 2023 for their Men In Black themed Movie Week dance, only to leave the competition three weeks later.

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In 2022, Tyler West and Dianne Buswell scored two 10s in Movie Week but missed out on the final. That series was won by wildlife presenter Hamza Yassin, whose Strictly journey saw him go from being one of the least known celebrities on the call sheet to one of the show’s most beloved stars.

Rachel McGrath explains why Ghouri’s impressive achievement isn’t guaranteed to see her win the competition.

Greg Evans19 October 2024 15:00

Chris McCausland hits back at Lord Sugar over ‘gimmick’ comments

Head judge Shirley Ballas was lost for words at the end of the comedian’s performance. “I can’t even imagine how you managed to do that so flawlessly when you can’t see,” she said.

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However, Sugar appeared less than impressed as he posted a scathing critique of Saturday’s performances on X/Twitter.

“I don’t know when Strictly Come Dancing are going to run out of contestant gimmicks,” he wrote. “I would not be surprised if they had a AI mechanical robot next year.”

Fans interpreted the attack to be aimed at McCausland, as one wrote, “Gimmicks? Says the man who literally just points a finger. I hope Chris wins.”

But McCausland waded into the conversation to defend himself as he hit back, “I am sorry my gimmick offends you oh mighty Lord. #YoureTired.”

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Greg Evans19 October 2024 15:30

Nick Knowles receives sympathy from viewers after being eliminated

DIY SOS host Nick Knowles was eliminated from the competition last week after struggling with injuries throughout his time on the show.

Knowles and his pro partner Luba Mushtuk were in the dance off against singer Shayne Ward and his partner Nancy Xu.

Knowles had been absent for the previous week after sustaining a shoulder injury. Ward and Xu performed a Cha Cha to “Ain’t No Love (Ain’t No Use)” by Sub Sub feat Melanie Williams, while Knowles and Mushtuk danced a Charleston to “Rain on the Roof” from the film Paddington 2.

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Ultimately, it was Knowles who was eliminated from the competition, with all four judges agreeing that Ward would make it through to the next round.

Viewers reacted to the elimination on X/Twitter, with many expressing sympathy for Knowles following his injury last week.

“Definitely the right result. Shayne Ward should never have been in the dance-off. Nick Knowles did well despite his injuries though,” one person wrote.

“Poor Nick,” commented another. “I wouldn’t have bothered coming back.”

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“Honestly I’m relieved Nick is going bc he needs to recover from his injury and I’m pretty sure he would’ve had to drop out anyway in the next few weeks,” someone else wrote.

Greg Evans19 October 2024 16:00

JB Gill has already done this week’s dance pro claims

Strictly pro Ola Jordan has spoken on her past experiences with JLS singer JB Gill, having previously partnered with him for a one off Christmas special in 2012.

Gill has been partnered with returning Welsh dancer Amy Dowden and the two have impressed so far and this week will be dancing the Jive to the Outkast classic “Hey Ya.”

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Gill has actually done this dance before with him and Jordan triumphing with their performance of the Jive back in 2012. Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Jordan said: “I’m looking forward to seeing JB and Amy. It’s funny because they haven’t mentioned that JB actually did a Strictly Christmas special, so he has already done a Jive.”

“He did it with me back in 2012 and he was very good when I was teaching him, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he does in his Jive this weekend,” the 42-year-old said.

Greg Evans19 October 2024 16:30

Strictly star announces split from wife after nine years of marriage

The 38-year-old TV presenter and actor shared the “difficult” news in a post online on Thursday, revealing that the pair had separated earlier in the year.

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He wrote: “Hi guys. Portia and I are sad to announce that we separated earlier this year. We’re so grateful for all the love you’ve shared with us both over the years.”

“And we want to thank you in advance for respecting our privacy as we navigated this difficult transition. We will be making no further comment. Be kind, always.”

Greg Evans19 October 2024 17:00

Katya and Wynne’s awkward Strictly Come Dancing saga is a sign of things to come

Following the controversy surrounding the incident between Wynne Evans and Katya Jones, Katie Rosseinsky fears that after the show’s bullying row that it could be a sign of things to come for the long running BBC series.

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In the wake of the backstage drama that has gripped Strictly this year, it seems inevitable that viewers will be on high alert for any whisper of behind-the-scenes strife, real or imagined. Last month, the BBC published the results of its probe into past contestant Amanda Abbington’s complaints levelled at former-pro Giovanni Pernice. The corporation upheld complaints relating to verbal bullying and harassment, but found that Pernice had not been physically aggressive, and also issued an apology to Abbington. Before that, over the summer, dancer Graziano Di Prima left Strictly, later admitting to having kicked his celebrity partner Zara McDermott during a rehearsal.

Although the long-running investigation may have wrapped up, it has cast a definite shadow over the usually sparkling proceedings. This shadow has proved hard to shake off, despite the fact that Strictly seems to have adopted a business-as-usual approach (the row hasn’t yet been alluded to on the show, although chaperones are now present during dance rehearsals and welfare protocols have been bolstered). Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that fans are perhaps reading into any unusual onscreen interactions more closely than they might have done a few years ago: right now, everything that happens on air is being viewed through the prism of past scandals.

Greg Evans19 October 2024 17:30