Neil Jones, 35, revealed he has forgiven his wife for kissing her Strictly Come Dancing partner Seann Walsh, 33, last October — an incident which garnered plenty of attention from fans of the show and led to the pair issuing public apologies. In an interview with Hello! Magazine, he said: “I think, for me, I can accept people make mistakes. My mum alway said, ’People make mistakes in their lives. Don’t react, try to understand.’ So that is how it always is for me.”
Russian-born professional dancer Katya Jones, 29, called the experience a “learning process”, admitting: “But actually, drop by drop, people typing horrible and unkind things about you does affect you.
“The hate I felt made me very sad,” she continued.
The former Strictly champion, who won the BBC series in 2017 with her celebrity partner Joe McFadden, 43, said it was, in fact, her husband who had helped comfort her in the aftermath of her kiss with Seann.
“Neil told me, ‘Stop reading, stop looking,’” she told the publication.
“I knew I had to focus on what I do best, my dancing, my choreography, my job to the best of my ability.”
Katya and Seann were pictured kissing on October 3, the day of his then-girlfriend Rebecca Humphries’ birthday.
SEANN WALSH AND KATYA JONES: STRICTLY COME DANCING DUO’S KISSING PICTURE UNEARTHED
She later released a statement explaining how she had been at their home at the time, saying: “I was alone at home when Sean texted at 10pm saying the two of them were going for one innocent drink.
“We spoke and I told him, not for the first time, that his actions over the past three weeks had led me to believe something inappropriate was going on.”
Seann and actress Rebecca had been together for five years at the time and she also confirmed they had split after the pictures of him kissing Katya emerged.
Both Katya and Seann subsequently appeared on Strictly’s spin-off show It Takes Two to address the incident, with the professional dancer insisting her marriage to Neil was “fine”.
“Obviously, I can’t apologies enough to everyone who it hurt and involved,” she said. “But the main thing, me and Neil are absolutely fine and that’s what matters to me the most right now.”
Neil and Katya first met in 2008 when he stood in for her professional partner at the time at a dance competition in Blackpool.
They went on to tie the knot in 2013.
At a stand-up performance in London last month, Seann made light of the situation as he joked about his kiss with his married Strictly partner.
“You never think you are going to be on the front page,” he said on-stage at the Top Secret Comedy Club in London, according to the MailOnline. “People dressed up as me for Halloween, it was bizarre.
“If you’re going to cheat, do it indoors!” he quipped.
Read the full interview with Neil and Katya Jones in this week’s Hello! Magazine – out now.