Strictly Come Dancing’s Katya Jones has said she was shocked at the reaction after she was pictured kissing her celebrity partner, comedian Seann Walsh, during the series last year.

Appearing alongside her husband, fellow Strictly professional Neil, on ITV’s Lorraine, she said she had not realised “the scale it was going to be”.

The 29-year-old Russian, and British dancer Neil, 36, also told Lorraine that they feel people “overreacted” to the scandal and that they have both “moved on”.

Neil and Katya Jones
Neil and Katya Jones will both return to Strictly Come Dancing this year (Matt Crossick/PA)

She told Lorraine: “Do you know, I think it took a few days, I didn’t realise the scale it was going to be. So sort of hyped up. It was quite shocking really. It was really shocking, but I just tried not to look on the outside, we were just trying to keep it all together here.”

Neil said finding out his wife had kissed her partner had been “a major shock” but added: “I appreciated it of course that Katya told me, so I found out from Katya before I saw it in the news.”

The couple, who have been together for 10 years, will both return to BBC One’s Strictly this year.

Asked by Lorraine if he thought people had overreacted, Neil said: “For me, I felt they overreacted.”

Katya said: “Even the fact that we’re still talking about it. It’s like, we’re over it, I think everyone else is over it, let’s just move on.”

The couple will soon embark on the tour for their dancing show called Somnium: A Dancer’s Dream.