PicoVibe

"Kiss-gate" impacted his mental health and career

Before entering the I'm A Celebrity jungle, Seann Walsh was perhaps best known for being at the centre of one of Strictly Come Dancing's biggest-ever scandals. 

MORE: Who is I'm A Celeb star Seann Walsh's girlfriend Grace Adderley?

While competing on the dancing show back in 2018, the comedian, who was in a long-term relationship with Rebecca Humphries at the time, was pictured kissing his dance partner, Katya Jones, who was married to fellow Strictly pro Neil Jones. But what happened to him after the scandal, and how did it impact his life and career? Find out here…

WATCH: Seann Walsh reveals first time he met Matt Hancock

After the pictures of Seann and Katya kissing were published in , Seann's relationship with Rebecca ended and he apologised on It Takes Two. "I made a mistake, which I'm very sorry for - sorry for the hurt that I've caused," he said. "You never think about the extent of the damage that you’re going to do, in a moment of, you know the mistake that you’ve made."

He went on to say that while his relationship "wasn't perfect", he was "very sorry" for the way it ended. He added: "I feel it's also important for me to say that the people that know me the most, that love me, they know that I am not the person I'm being portrayed as. I'm still sorry for what I did, but it's very important for me to get that out there."

Seann and Katya dominated newspaper headlines in the subsequent weeks and were soon voted out of the BBC show. 

MORE: I'm a Celebrity's Seann Walsh reveals impact of Strictly kiss: 'Worst moment of my life'

MORE: How I'm a Celeb star Seann Walsh's ex found out he cheated with Katya Jones

The comedian's mental health and career suffered as a result of the scandal. 

Seann Walsh was snapped kissing Katya Jones in 2018

His next TV gig after Strictly came in the form of Netflix's gameshow, , which he hosted in 2019 alongside Lloyd Griffith, and Desiree Burch. Sadly, it was cancelled after just one series. 

The following year, he announced that he would be quitting Twitter after receiving abuse online. "Been off Twitter for around a week. I had to come back on to DM someone. Quickly checked the mensions. This app has contributed to making the last couple of years of my life, absolute hell," he wrote. 

"When I was in my mid-twenties, before there was even the term 'troll', I had a TV show. It wasn’t good but I was young and inexperienced. Nevertheless, that should have been an exciting time in my life. But instead I remember it for someone tweeting me 'What is @seannwalsh and how do we make it die?'

Seann with ex-girlfriend Rebecca Humphries

"I must hear that echo in my mind every few weeks. I hate this place. It's poisonous."

Seann gave several interviews in the years after "kiss-gate" and spoke about its impact on his mental health. "I lost a lot personally and job-wise," he told fellow comedian Richard Herring on his podcast at the end of 2019. 

He went on to reveal that he had become "very paranoid" after receiving so much public criticism. "It does affect me and you'll see people on the tube if they recognise me and you get paranoid and think, 'Do they recognise me?'

"You live in this paranoid fear. Sometimes I forget. Before I was very self-conscious of being out in public when someone catches your eye and you think they recognise you. I'm very paranoid."

Prior to his stint on , Seann made appearances on comedy shows such as and

He also landed a few acting gigs, including in the short film and comedy movies and . 

Seann spoke about the turbulent period in his life during Wednesday's episode of . 

Speaking to fellow comic Babatúndé Aléshé, he admitted that his career had suffered. 

"Easily the most depressing month of my entire life, Edinburgh after Strictly," he explained. "We get to Edinburgh, right, I think it’s a 200-seater, I've never not in Edinburgh sold out the first night. It doesn't even occur to me that it’s not sold out.

Seann is currently competing on this year's series of 

"Just before I’m about to go on, my agent comes in and goes, 'Just so you know, there's like 30 people.' To get told that when you're just about to go on… horrific. It was at that point I was like, 'Oh, oh..'

"My career was dead, I was over."

He went on to say: "My agent said, 'There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry, I've tried. I've tried everything.' 

"Do you know what I did, I thought, I've got to learn to drive. I can't sit on trains, with people looking at me going, 'Is that the guy that used to…?' I've got to learn to drive now as I've got to hide. Genuinely. I mean that, I swear on my life. I can't be on trains."

Sign up to HELLO Daily! for the best royal, celebrity and lifestyle coverage

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qbHLpaammZeWx6q6xGeaqKVfm7atuY5rZ2tqYWZ%2FdH2UcG9ybF%2Beum6tjJycpZ2SYsCmrc2nZLCZnKi1bsPHmqtmoJGlvaa6xJ1kmp6kmr9uv9OroJysnK56tK%2FAp5uapF8%3D