Strictly's Adam Peaty addresses 'kiss' speculation with dance partner Katya Jones

The Olympic swimmer's girlfriend, Eirianedd Munro, has also posted about it on social media.

Strictly Come Dancing has been dogged with talk of "the curse" for years. In fairness, the phenomenon exists for a reason. In the dancing show’s 17-series history, there have been numerous marriages that have broken up, with relationships developing between celebrities and their professional dancers in the aftermath. Rachel Riley and Pasha Kovalev, and Ben Cohen and Kristina Rhianoff are both cases in point.

We might only be four weeks into this season, but Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty and his dance partner Katya Jones have already been made the subject of 'Strictly curse' speculation. On Saturday night, the pair danced the Argentine Tango to Fleetwood Mac's Tango. At the end of the performance, viewers thought it looked like Adam went to kiss Katya, before supposedly remembering they were on live TV, and pulling back.

But while the rumour mill is now firmly churning, Adam Peaty has taken to social media to remind people that such speculation can have a real life impact. Following the results show, which saw he and Katya make it through to dance for another week, the Olympian posted on Twitter: "We go again, thank you so much for all your support! Such a relief!"

Addressing the rumours, he added in another tweet: "To everyone who wants to see what they want, your comments have real life consequences. I will not be overcome or lowered by your gossip. Protect your energy".

In 2018, when Katya was paired with comedian Seann Walsh on Strictly Come Dancing, the couple were photographed kissing outside a London pub. Seann had a girlfriend, Rebecca Humphries, at the time, so needless to say the infidelity caused a lot of hurt to those involved. It's perhaps for this reason that viewers are more eager to speculate that Katya and Adam's relationship is more than just professional.

But let's not forget that Adam Peaty has a girlfriend, Eirianedd Munro, with whom he has a baby. The couple have been together since early 2020 and welcomed their son, George-Anderson, in September last year. Eirianedd has also taken to social media, posting a TikTok to address the suggestion that Adam nearly kissed Katya.

In the video, the 23-year-old mimes crying to the sound of a baby in tears, with the words, "watching your boyfriend almost kiss another woman on live TV" above her. The music then changes Eirianedd throws her head back and the words, "finding out 10 million people also watched it live," flash up.

On Instagram, a photo Eirianedd posted of herself on Saturday which previously had the caption, "I'm not worried," has been changed so that comments can no longer be posted. "Thank you for your think pieces but the comment section is now closed," the caption now reads.

While viewers are watching Strictly Come Dancing as a form of entertainment, and it can be easy to get sucked in with assumptions about relationship dynamics due to the high level of intimacy involved in the dancing, we shouldn't forget that these are real people with real lives.

It can't be easy for Eirianedd to deal with such chatter about her relationship, so let's hope she's managing to block it out.