Seann Walsh has said that his ex-partner was “right” to speak out about him after it was revealed he had cheated on her with Strictly Come Dancing’s Katya Jones.
The comedian also said he has worked on changing himself with therapy and “cutting out the booze” following the controversy, which dominated headlines throughout the latest series of the BBC dancing show.
Walsh and his dance partner Jones, who is married to fellow Strictly dancer Neil Jones, were pictured kissing in October while he was in a relationship with actress Rebecca Humphries.
Humphries dumped him after the pictures were published in The Sun newspaper and, in a public statement, accused Walsh of calling her “psycho/nuts/mental” when she suspected he was involved with the Strictly dancer.
Walsh, 33, told The Jonathan Ross show that he was “stupid and I was selfish and I was hurtful to someone that I cared about and someone that I respected, and I still care about and still respect.”
He added: “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.
“It has been some time since then, I have had a lot of time to look at my actions, look at my behaviour and take responsibility as well.”
Of Humphries, he said: “I think that when I first saw that statement it was so huge and you go through a mixture of emotions and I didn’t really know how to react.
“But I think with the time that I’ve had, that actually she is right, I think everything she said in that statement is right.”
Humphries said in her Twitter statement that the kiss had happened on her birthday while she was at home alone and that he had told her he was going for “one innocent drink”.
She also alleged that Walsh had been “controlling” with her when she probed him on being unfaithful throughout their relationship.
Walsh said, of her statement: “At first it’s denial, initially you look at that and you go, ‘No absolutely not’.
“But with time, someone that you cared about has written that about you and posted that and I think that actually, yes, she was right what she said.
“And I think if you lie and cheat on the person that you’re meant to care for and be in a relationship with, then that is a form of abuse, of course it is.
“All I can be is as sorry as I am. I hope one day that she’ll forgive me.”
Walsh said he has not had much contact with Humphries since they split but that he is glad she posted her comment, because “I probably wouldn’t have looked at myself and tried to change and I think I’ve done that.”
— Rebecca Humphries (@Beckshumps) October 8, 2018
He said he went to Los Angeles, a “very positive place” following the drama, adding: “I have ended up being… I’m that guy, therapy and trying to sort myself out and also more recently cutting out the booze until I feel that I’ve changed and I’ve got past that.”
Walsh also said he will acknowledge the controversy with Jones on his stand-up tour, because “it would be strange if I went on stage during the tour and I just ended up talking about microwaves for an hour”.
Walsh appears on The Jonathan Ross Show alongside Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Bryan Adams, Jennifer Hudson and Will.i.am.
The Jonathan Ross Show airs on Saturday March 2 on ITV at 9.25pm.