Strictly Come Dancing professional Katya Jones has broken her silence on Ukraine as she denied tension between Russian and Ukranian dancers on the show. It comes after reports that pros on the hit show had reportedly told two stars to come out and condemn the war in Ukraine – or never come back.
Katya and Luba Mushtuk both hail from St Petersburg, in Russia. Their colleagues Nikita Kuzmin and Nadiya Bychkova are from Ukraine.
Katya said rumours of tension between them were “total nonsense”. She told former contestant Sara Davies on BBC Morning Live: “You’ve seen first hand how supportive we all are all of each other always, and I want to make one thing very clear, I think the invasion of Ukraine is totally wrong, it shouldn’t be happening. It must stop.
Read moreStrictly confirm 2022 professional dancers as two stars quit
“We’ve been in touch with Nikita who has been very proactive in sharing ways about how to help Ukrainian people. I personally find it really upsetting to see what these people are going through, it’s scary and it’s so wrong on all levels, but within our group there’s nothing but love and support and we can’t wait to come back together again.”
Nikita Kuzmin previously spoke out about Russian dancers staying silent on the invasion on podcast Private Parts, He said: “The only moment when I have actual anger, because I don’t like to experience anger, so I try always to find a different emotion, is when I see the friends which I have in Russia – mostly dancers – that don’t know, or ignore, or just don’t know better. Because of all the propaganda and all the influence which is happening. This makes me really angry because it’s just unfair.”
Stay up to date with the latest celebrity and TV news with showbiz updates from our daily newsletter here. If you’re on Facebook, you can find out dedicated social media group on all things celeb here.
