Wynne Evans #

Introduction #

Wynne Evans is a Welsh opera singer and broadcaster, best known as the tenor who sings the jingle in the Go.Compare insurance advertisements and as the host of a weekday show on BBC Radio Wales. A contestant on the 2024 series of Strictly Come Dancing, where he was partnered with professional dancer Katya Jones, he joined the show’s accompanying Strictly Come Dancing live arena tour. In January 2025 his career was upended when he was recorded making a sexualised remark directed at dancer and TV presenter Janette Manrara during the tour’s launch, prompting a public apology, a warning from tour producers and, within days, his withdrawal from the tour and his radio show.

Background Information #

Evans became a familiar face of British television advertising as the opera singer on the Go.Compare adverts, and built a broadcasting career that included presenting his weekday show on BBC Radio Wales. In 2024 he competed on Strictly Come Dancing with Katya Jones; the pair were the eighth couple to be voted out of a series won by comedian Chris McCausland. He then took the step up to the live tour, singing as well as dancing in the arena show.

His conduct on the television series had already attracted scrutiny. Viewers flagged awkward moments between Evans and Jones, including an episode in October 2024 in which she appeared to turn down a high-five from him and moved his hand from her waist. Both dancers apologised for what they called an inside joke, and Jones said on the spin-off show It Takes Two that it was “complete nonsense” that the hand moment made her feel uncomfortable or offended — but the episodes primed audiences to view his behavior closely. The BBC had also introduced new welfare measures for Strictly, including chaperones in rehearsal rooms, after a review prompted by complaints involving other contestants.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

During the launch event for the Strictly Come Dancing live tour in Birmingham on January 16, 2025, as the show’s dancers prepared for a group photo, Evans was filmed making a sexualised remark. The Mail on Sunday reported that he used the term “spitroast” — slang for a three-person sexual position — in a remark allegedly aimed at Janette Manrara, a professional dancer and television presenter. The video circulated and was reported days later. The Guardian reported that Evans was given a warning over the remark by tour producers, and a spokesperson for the Strictly Live tour and BBC Studios said: “We were not previously aware of the remark and did not receive any complaints. We have made it very clear to Wynne that we do not tolerate such behaviour on the tour.”

Evans apologised in a statement issued on January 26: “My language was inappropriate and unacceptable for which I sincerely apologise.” The apology was unqualified, and the tour’s producers made clear the behaviour fell below the standard they expected: as their statement put it, “We have made it very clear to Wynne that we do not tolerate such behaviour on the tour.”

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The consequences escalated quickly once the video was published. Two days after his apology, Evans announced he was stepping back: “I’ve agreed with the BBC that I’ll take some time out from my radio show and the Strictly Live tour, as well as my other public commitments, to prioritise my wellbeing.” In the same statement he said: “I am deeply sorry for the pain my inappropriate actions have caused, and plan to take this time for self-reflection,” adding apologies to fans he would not see at remaining performances and thanks to his “fellow tour gang” for their support. The announcement came on the day he was due on stage in Liverpool, with 16 performances left in the tour schedule.

The BBC’s various arms reflected his exit. BBC Radio Wales confirmed he would be “taking time off” from his weekday show, which he had already been absent from that week, and a spokesperson for the broadcaster said it did not “tolerate unacceptable behaviour”. Jones posted on Instagram after his statement, saying “let’s show humanity and consideration” and adding “I will miss you my darling boy”. His new BBC TV series with Joanna Page, Wynne & Joanna: All at Sea, was released as planned on the Monday.

Current Status #

As of the end of January 2025, Evans was off the Strictly Live tour, off his BBC Radio Wales show and away from his other public commitments, with no announced date for a return, describing the break as time to “prioritise my wellbeing” and for self-reflection. The tour continued without him toward its final night at the O2 in London on February 9. The remark itself had cost him a warning from producers, his place on the tour and his broadcasting slot; no further sanctions were reported in the coverage consulted here.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

The remark collapsed, in the space of ten days, the twin platforms Evans had built: the prime-time television franchise that had made him a household name again and the weekday radio show that kept him there, along with a national arena tour running through to February. The trajectory — warning, apology, withdrawal — echoed the upheaval that had already swept other Strictly figures the previous year, when professional dancers Giovanni Pernice and Graziano Di Prima left the show following allegations about their behavior, and it landed on a BBC still under pressure over its duty of care. For Evans, a 52-year-old entertainer whose appeal rested on being a familiar, likeable presence, being publicly barred from both stage and airwaves over his own language was the most serious professional crisis of his career.