Comedian Seann Walsh competed in series 16 of Strictly Come Dancing, alongside his professional partner Katya Jones, in 2018.
But it wasn’t their dancing prowess that placed them in the headlines.
They exited in week 6, after several newspapers chose to publish photographs of Seann and Katya kissing. Both were in long-term relationships at the time – with other people – making the photographs more than a little bit scandalous.
After the news of their affair broke, Seann’s mental health suffered. So, presumably, did the mental health of Katya and Seann’s respective partners. Three years later, he published a comedy special to his YouTube channel in which he talks at length about what happened.
Comedian falls ‘victim’ to Strictly ‘curse’
The so-called Strictly Come Dancing “curse” describes the phenomenon of competitors becoming romantically involved with their dance partners.
In 2018, it came for Seann Walsh, on screen in Celebrity Catchphrase tonight (May 25).
He joined the cast of Strictly Come Dancing’s series 16 on September 8, 2018. His partner, Katya Jones, had won the show the previous year with Joe McFadden.
They had a natural chemistry, and viewers lapped it up. Then, between weeks three and four of the competition, he went from walking on air to being, in his own words, the “most hated comedian in Britain”.
After news of his and Katya’s affair reached the press, the pair agreed to a televised interview with Zoe Ball on the BBC show It Takes Two.
Seann Walsh’s apology, and how his mental health suffered amid Katya Jones affair scandal
Seann told Zoe he had made a mistake. He was sorry for the hurt he caused, and accepted that he was “not perfect”.
“I feel it’s also important for me to say that the people who know me the most, that love me, they know that I am not the person I’m being portrayed as,” he added. “I’m still sorry for what I did, but it’s very important for me to get that out there.”
Katya confirmed that they would be continuing in the competition, despite calls for them to stand down.
They did, too. They danced the Charleston in front of 5 million people, less than a day after Seann found himself having a “screaming” panic attack in Notting Hill.
Katya and her partner Neil Jones separated in late 2024. However, they assured people at the time that their split had nothing to do with Seann.
Panic attack
In his YouTube comedy special, Seann describes watching himself become a punchline on Have I Got News For You, and being paranoid, upon leaving his Notting Hill hotel, that someone would recognise him and inform the press of his “secret” whereabouts.
“I just remember a blonde woman walking past me here and she clocked me. I felt like, I was sure that she definitely knew who I was.
“And that suddenly freaked me out. And I thought I’ve got to go back, I’m about to have a big panic attack,” he recalled.
His senses started playing up, and by the sounds of it, he collapsed onto the road next to the pavement.
“I’m now lying here screaming and I look up. A double decker bus goes past and the whole of the top deck does this… [It’s] the most [bleep]ing London thing.
“They just looked at me,” he says, convinced that in any other city in Britain, someone would have stopped the bus and come to his aid.
Fortunately, a sympathetic couple driving past him did recognise him, and took him back to his hotel in their car.
Within 24 hours, he was performing the Charleston live on BBC One.
It was, in Seann’s words, “not ideal”.
Catch Seann on Celebrity Catchphrase tonight (May 25) at 6.55pm on ITV1.
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