HRVY admits he and Maisie Smith played up 'Strictly' romance for the cameras
Strictly Come Dancing 2020 finalist HRVY admitted that he and co-star Maisie Smith played up to romance rumours while on the show.
The two young competitors became good friends during their stint on the series, and YouTuber HRVY, 22, and EastEnders star Smith, 19, were said to be "secretly dating" behind-the-scenes.
It was even claimed that the pair got in trouble for sharing a snog backstage despite stringent social-distancing guidelines being in place.
Watch: Maisie Smith and HRVY have reportedly split!
Read more: Janette Manrara quits Strictly and joins spin-off It Takes Two
But six months on, HRVY – real name Harvey Cantwell – has admitted it was all false, with the “romance” actually nothing but a showmance.
“Nothing happened. It was funny to watch everyone talk about it,” he told The Sun.
“Sometimes we were like, ‘Shall we play up to it?’ We are really good friends and still speak.”
He also hit back at viewers who went from liking Maisie to disliking her for "being too cocky" while partnered up with Gorka Marquez.
Read more: Shirley Ballas reveals she 'didn’t know her own name' during horrible COVID-19 experience
“Everyone, especially at the moment, is saying, ‘You should be strong and confident’,” he said.
“But as soon as someone who is beautiful and confident and talented shows it and believes in it, they go, ‘That’s too cocky, you can’t do that.’
“It’s hard, but she did amazing.”
HRVY was partnered with Janette Manrara during the last series, and became her last ever celebrity partner.
The pair made it to the final alongside Smith and Marquez and eventual winners Bill Bailey and Oti Mabuse.
Read more: Anneka Rice was left 'broken' and 'depressed' amid Strictly injury
Manrara has now announced that she will be leaving the dancefloor in order to become the next co-host of Strictly’s spin-off show It Takes Two.
She’ll be starring alongside Rylan Clark-Neal after Zoe Ball stepped down from the role this year after a decade.
The new series is scheduled to go ahead later this year as normal, following a shorter run in 2020 to accommodate coronavirus restrictions.
Strictly Come Dancing returns later this year on BBC One.
Watch: HRVY and Janette Manrara's perfect Strictly Come Dancing score
