Katya Jones says 'Strictly Come Dancing' empowers people to leave unhappy relationships.
Katya Jones
The 31-year-old professional dancer was caught kissing her 'Strictly' celebrity partner Seann Walsh, 35, after a night out in London in October 2018, but Katya has dismissed talk of the show being a curse on relationships and insisted it has a positive influence.
Katya - who was married to Neil Jones at the time, while Seann was dating actress Rebecca Humphries - explained to The Sun newspaper: "Obviously there have been lots of stories… but also there are so many more examples of nothing happening, and people being happy at home with their families.
"But I think some people get empowered by it because of the sense of achievement they get from doing this brilliant show.
"Maybe they didn’t have the confidence, or the strength, to do these things before, or maybe some people were in long-term, unhappy relationships and doing 'Strictly' empowered them to realise they could do better.
"People find themselves again. They realise they can do this and feel they can take on the world - that’s the amazing thing about this show."
Katya has no regrets about her own scandal and says she and former husband Neil Jones are closer than ever after the incident.
She said: "Of course certain things made it hell, all the attention - and I think for two weeks Brexit was forgotten! It was mental, and it took time to get over it but the way I came out of it, I am happy, and my ex-husband Neil and I have never been so close. Which I think says it all."