Seann Walsh has spoken candidly about being handed what he describes as a “second chance” in the years after the scandal that engulfed him during his time on Strictly Come Dancing.
The comedian, 40, found himself at the centre of controversy in 2018 when photographs emerged of him kissing his then dance partner Katya Jones.
Both were in relationships at the time, with Jones married to fellow professional Neil Jones.
Walsh has since described the episode as “the worst moment of his life” and has repeatedly apologised for his actions.
“I will always be sorry about what I did. I think when it all blew up, I don’t think I reacted in the correct manner. I didn’t know what to do, it was huge,” he has said previously.
Now, almost a decade on, Walsh reflected on how the fallout reshaped his life during an appearance on Lorraine, ahead of his forthcoming stand-up tour.
The comic, who shares two children with his long-term partner Grace Adderley, spoke about fatherhood as a process of learning from the past.
“You know you’re going to make more [mistakes] as you go down the line, but just trying not to make the same ones,” he said on Wednesday’s show. “Make new mistakes.”
Lorraine Kelly observed: “It was eight years ago, all that hoo-ha, but when you’re in the middle of that, you think it’s never going to end, but it does and you move on, and you have.”
Walsh replied: “It’s fantastic, it’s nice to be… You get a second chance at life, you go out and back on the road, and shows are selling out. It gives you a greater appreciation, I think.”
Kelly added: “When you think something is going to get taken away from you, that’s when you know that it’s worth hanging on to.”
Walsh has previously detailed how his much-anticipated stint on the BBC dance show unravelled in a matter of hours.
At the time, he had been in a five-year relationship with actress Rebecca Humphries.
Recounting the moment he learned the photographs had surfaced, he said during his stand-up special Seann Walsh: Kiss: “I left the wardrobe department, and before I could order my first beer, my agent came over and asked if he could have a word with me outside.
“I thought, ‘He is going to tell me I have got Michael McIntyre’s Big Show! I had better act surprised!’ Turns out, I didn’t have to act surprised.”
His agent informed him that an image of him and Jones kissing outside a pub had been published.
“It was at that exact point that my life would turn upside down, the dream turned into a nightmare.”
