Adam Peaty’s time on Strictly including ‘almost kiss’ as he splits from girlfriend Eiri
Olympian Adam Peaty has announced his split from his girlfriend Eiri Munro and apologised for ‘letting her down’ a year after he signed up to take part in Strictly Come Dancing
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Strictly: Adam and Katya ‘almost kiss’ during tense Argentine tango
Adam Peaty has announced his split from his girlfriend Eiri Munro on Tuesday 23 August and apologised for “letting her down”.
Olympic swimmer Adam, 27, and Eiri share son George together, who turns two next month. And their whirlwind romance – with Eiri falling pregnant two months into their romance – hasn’t come without its difficulties.
Adam hit the headlines as he appeared to almost kiss his professional dance partner Katya Jones during a performance. Here, we take a look at Adam’s Strictly Come Dancing journey.
Olympic gold medalist Adam was confirmed as the 10th star to join Strictly last year.
Adam Peaty has announced his split from his girlfriend Eiri, a year after he competed on Strictly Come Dancing
As his participation was revealed on BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat, he said: “I think this will come as a surprise to a lot of people, but I’m so excited to finally share the news that I’ll be joining Strictly this year.”
He added: “I’m really looking forward to doing something totally different and challenging myself away from the pool. I’m hoping my competitive nature is going to compensate for my dancing abilities!”
After weeks of training ahead of the dance competition, Adam revealed he had been paired with Katya Jones on the show.
Adam shared his excitement as he was confirmed as part of the Strictly lineup in 2021
Olympian Adam was paired with Katya Jones
Image:
( BBC)
As he shared a photo of himself and Katya posing together on his Instagram page, he wrote in the caption: “So excited to finally reveal my partner for Strictly Come Dancing! I’m not sure @katyajones knows what’s she’s in for though Who can guess our first dance?”
Adam and Katya, 33, made their Strictly dancefloor debut as they performed the Cha-Cha to the song Beggin’. The pair got off to a storming start as they received the second highest score of the evening.
Sharing a photo of his performance on his Instagram page, Adam gushed: “Can’t believe I did that! So happy with last night @katyajones.
Adam competed against Rose Ayling-Ellis, Tilly Ramsay and Judi Love on the show
Image:
( BBC)
“A new week and now a new dance! One of the best experiences of my life. Remember you can vote from next week!”
However, his dedication to the show and competition came with some personal sacrifice as Adam was forced to miss his son George’s first birthday in favour of rehearsing.
When asked by the Mirror about if he had managed to celebrate his son’s birthday, the Olympian said: “No, we were filming that day. We wrapped at 10.30pm so I drove straight home, ready to celebrate it the next day.
Adam and Katya’s first performance went down well with the judges
Image:
( PA)
Olympic swimmer Adam had to miss his son’s birthday to rehearse for the BBC One dancing show
Image:
( eirimunro/Instagram)
“It didn’t go down too well but that’s the difficult thing when you do this. Everyone has to understand.”
Adam had been committing himself to Strictly with gruelling dance rehearsals and revealed he “can’t walk” after gruelling training sessions.
The pair had been undergoing practice sessions at 5.30am. And Adam told Lorraine: “This is why my feet hurt so much, because I’ve got to change directions so quickly and I’m always on my tiptoes.
Katya put Adam through his paces with gruelling rehearsals
Image:
( BBC / Guy Levy)
“I literally can’t move at the end of the day. I’m aware this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I want to make the most of it.”
For their second performance, the pair performed the Quickstep to Are You Gonna Be My Girl.
Both their second and third dances, where they performed the Rumba to I See You, kept them safe in the competition.
However, their fourth dance really caused a stir both on the Strictly dance floor and at home.
Adam Peaty and Katya Jones caused a stir as viewers thought they ‘almost kissed’
Image:
( BBC)
As Adam and Katya performed the Argentine Tango to Tango in the Night, fans thought they saw Adam “almost kiss” Katya at the end of the routine.
The routine finished with Katya bending over backwards while Adam supported her frame and the pair had their faces incredibly close together.
The couple paused with their lips mere centimetres from each other, before Adam gently pulled his dance partner back up to standing position.
But, viewers at home took to social media to comment on their performance.
Strictly fans questioned the steamy performance on social media
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( BBC)
One fan questioned on Twitter : “Did Adam and Katya just nearly kiss?! #Strictly.”
Another remarked: “Adam definitely nearly kissed Katya at the end there #Strictly.”
While a further fan exclaimed: “So – what happened with Adam Peaty and Katya when they stood up? Awkward!!”
As speculation was rife, Adam’s girlfriend Eiri reacted in a TikTok video as she made light of the situation.
Adam’s girlfriend Eiri made a joke of the ‘near kiss’
Image:
( eirimunro/TikTok)
The video Eiri posted on TikTok showed her appear to cry
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( eirimunro/TikTok)
Using the trending sound of a whining baby, Eiri scrunched up her face as if she was crying in the clip.
Above the clip, she wrote: “Watching your boyfriend almost kiss another woman on live tv… Finding out 10 million people also watched it live.”
She then paused before letting out a bigger cry and throwing her head back as the words: “Finding out 10 million people also watched it live” appeared on the screen.
However, Adam later took to his Twitter to shut down the gossip around his heated performance as he wrote: “My favourite dance so far.
Adam hit back at criticism on social media
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( BBC / Guy Levy)
Adam told his social media followers: ‘Your comments have real life consequences’
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( Instagram)
“Thank you to everyone who has sent supporting messages! I loved it.”
He then continued: “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.”
Later, the pair explained the judges had critiqued their previous performances – sparking the apparent “almost kiss” between the pair.
Adam and Katya revealed the moment was choreographed
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( BBC)
Katya said: “The judges kept saying we’re not connecting the emotion to the dance.”
She explained choreographers urged the pair to “keep the intensity throughout the entire dance and at the end”.
Adam and Katya then returned to training as they practiced a Samba routine to George Michael’s Faith.
The week later, the pair ended up in the bottom two after performing the Viennese Waltz to Moonlight Sonata.
Adam was reportedly ‘beside himself’ as his girlfriend was trolled
Image:
( Adam Peaty/Instagram)
Adam was beginning rehearsals at 5.30am to perfect his Strictly routines
Meanwhile, off the dancefloor Adam was said to be “beside himself” as his girlfriend was the target of trolls following the “near kiss”.
A source told The Sun at the time: “Adam is beside himself about the abuse Eiri is receiving. He had no idea the impact being on the show would have on her and feels a responsibility as her partner.
“Adam and Katya are in training for long hours every day. Eiri has been incredibly supportive.
Adam faced Judi Love in the dance off on week six, but was saved
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( PA)
“To see her being mocked by trolls has been incredibly difficult for him to stomach.”
They were safe until week seven, when the pair were booted off the show after performing the Jive to Little Bitty Pretty One by Frankie Lymon.
Adam and Katya had faced Tilly Ramsay and Nikita Kuzmin in the dance off before they were eliminated.
The pair then shared their sadness over their exit from the competition in an emotional appearance on Strictly’s spin off It Takes Two.
Olympian Adam and dance partner Katya were eliminated in week seven
Image:
( PA)
Adam confessed that he and Katya were both “hurting”, after putting everything into their final performance on the show.
He explained: “I’m hurt but I know Katya is hurting a little bit, which hurts me more because I know how much we put into this.
“This journey has been hard, it’s not easy. Everyone sees the Saturday night delivery which is the smiles, the laughs, the awe and consuming thing of Strictly, but for me I put absolutely everything into that.
The pair became emotional as they appeared on Strictly’s spin off It Takes Two
Image:
( BBC / It Takes Two)
“I enjoyed the lows as well as the highs because that is what I remember, but it’s not all positive. It is hard, it’s really hard.”
After having some time to reflect on his Strictly journey, the swimmer later told Good Morning Britain viewers him leaving the programme was “bittersweet”.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he said: “Physically and mentally, it’s so fatiguing. You’ve got a learn a dance in three days, and then perform on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday as such. You’ve got to have it in the bag by Thursdays.
“Honestly, it’s bittersweet because I came out and I wanted to do the Paso, for example, but I get to do other things like spend more time at home with my family and I hope to do more stuff hopefully inspiring people with my book.”
He continued: “There’s so much going on. I’m not a negative person.”
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