Wynne Evans says 'I am not a victim' as he gives first interview since Strictly scandal

2 days ago

Opera singer Wynne Evans became emotional as he recalled the controversy around his time in Strictly Come Dancing saying it took him into the “darkest spot” of his life.The Welsh tenor, 53, known for the GoCompare insurance advertisements, competed in the recent series of the BBC dancing programme alongside professional Katya Jones.

Transcript

00:00I totally understand that, and I apologise.

00:02I don't want to sit here today coming across as a victim, because I'm not.

00:06I totally understand why people were upset by that, and I get it.

00:10But, again, it was... Look, I'm naive, then, if I'm anything, right?

00:14Because... Katya says to me,

00:17look, have you seen people are just saying on Twitter and...

00:21Instagram or TikTok...

00:23That, you know, every touch, every nuance...

00:26I'm sure they do it to you, right?

00:28So, Katya said to me,

00:30right, you put your hand on my waist, I'll move it back,

00:32we'll see if anybody picks it up, and, boy, did they pick it.

00:34In fact, she drags me, you said we're in the background,

00:36she drags me, she said to me,

00:38let's get down the front to make sure everybody sees it.

00:40So, we're down the front, I put my hand on her waist,

00:42she pulls it back, right?

00:44And then I'm sat in make-up afterwards, and I go,

00:46oh, my word, this is terrible.

00:48It's exploding.

00:50Right?

00:51And then I'm sat in make-up afterwards, and I go,

00:54oh, my word, this is terrible.

00:56It's exploded.

00:58So, I showed it to her, and I said,

01:00we need to make an apology video.

01:02So, we did this apology video, and it was 50 seconds long.

01:06And I remember saying to the people that strictly,

01:08oh, look, we've done this video, because, you know...

01:10Yeah.

01:11Oh, no, you can't put that, that's too long, right?

01:13So, they go, just make it 10 seconds.

01:15Of course, it turns into, like, some kind of hostage-style video,

01:18where I'm in the background going, sorry,

01:20and then we turn it into a private joke

01:21that everybody wants to know what the joke was.

01:23It was just a body language experiment that was picked up on.

01:27Little things that you do on the spur of the moment,

01:29you know, that you think, oh, this is funny,

01:31and it's not funny.

01:32You don't think it through,

01:33because your mind doesn't work in that way.

01:35Yeah.

01:36Well, one thing that was premeditated and not spur of the moment

01:38was the gif that you sent to Jamie.

01:40Yeah, yeah.

01:41Explain that to us.

01:42OK, 100%.

01:43I'm so glad you're asking me, because I want to talk about it.

01:45Yeah.

01:46So, we're on tour.

01:47We're spending 24 hours a day with people.

01:50You get to know people really well, OK?

01:52And it was just a joke that went too far.

01:56I bought...

01:57He'd been talking about this thing backstage.

01:59Everybody in the dressing room was, oh, let's get him one.

02:01Let's get him one.

02:02Talking about a sex toy.

02:03Yeah, sex toy.

02:04I ordered him one off of Amazon.

02:05It arrived.

02:06As soon as he opened it, the kind of joke was over.

02:09It never left the dressing room.

02:10It went straight in the bin.

02:11Mm.

02:12I didn't know he'd made a video to send to a friend.

02:15Right.

02:16Saying that this, you know, had been given to him.

02:18So, that was, yeah, that was a joke that went too far.

02:21And I apologise for that.

02:23Alleged remark.

02:24Uh-huh.

02:25What happened there?

02:26OK, so, we were just there with the photographers.

02:28The reporters had left.

02:29OK.

02:30But we were there having some stills taken.

02:33I was there, I was talking to Jamie Borthwick.

02:36I had this nickname for him, which was old.

02:40Old.

02:41And then the word in question.

02:42Mm-hmm.

02:43And boy.

02:44So, I used to call him this.

02:45Mm-hmm.

02:46Because he could contort his legs over his head.

02:47Mm-hmm.

02:48I didn't know there was, you know, a reporter still there recording,

02:51apparently, on their phone from quite a distance away.

02:55And then put their own spin on it, their own narrative on it.

02:59Taking out the words old and boy, which you can absolutely see on the video.

03:04It's absolutely crystal clear.

03:06Mm-hmm.

03:07And I've had the volume looked at, you know, the words are there.

03:10Mm-hmm.

03:11They're there for everybody to see.

03:12She's just said that I've, even though I'm looking at Jamie, they claim that I'm directing

03:16this word at Jeanette.

03:17Mm-hmm.

03:18And it's totally been taken out of context.

03:21Absolutely.

03:22The narrative is so wrong on it.

03:24Mm-hmm.

03:25In fact, when I saw the narrative in the newspaper, I was just shocked and horrified.

03:29Because instead of a nickname with another word for rotisserie in it.

03:33Yes.

03:34You know, because this guy could get his legs behind his head like a chicken.

03:37Mm-hmm.

03:38It's turned into this sexual innuendo.

03:39Mm-hmm.

03:40And I was mortified, absolutely mortified by it.

03:43And, you know, I've spoken with Jeanette, as you know, afterwards.

03:49And, you know, A, she didn't hear it.

03:52B, there has never been any complaints about me, ever.

03:55And I was just like, how can the narrative, how can somebody take a narrative and change it?

04:01And, you know, everybody just believe it.

04:05The Strictly Presto people rang me and they said, look, you meant to have said this word.

04:10Now, if I said to you, Kat, you've said something that's really offended me, you'd go, God, I'm sorry.

04:15Yeah.

04:16And I said, oh, God, I'm sorry.

04:17Yeah.

04:18They took that as an apology.

04:19They didn't run it by me.

04:20They sent it off to the newspaper.

04:23They printed that as my apology.

04:25Yeah.

04:26And that's the situation I was in.

04:27And, of course, then it looks like I validated the story.

04:30Yes.

04:31In reply to that, they came back and said the apology issued on Wynn's behalf by the Strictly Come Dancing, a tour PR representative on Saturday 25th of January was fully approved by Wynn.

04:40No, that's not true.

04:41You don't believe that?

04:42No, that's not true.

04:43I got no email.

04:44It was not fully approved by me at all.

04:45They have an understanding that that's how they saw it.

04:47I've had clinical depression since 2016.

04:50Yeah.

04:51And it took me in, and I want to talk about it today because I want other people to find strength from that.

04:57Yeah.

04:58It took me into the darkest spot of my life.

05:00I'm sure it did.

05:01When the headlines keep coming and coming and coming.

05:04And you must have been there yourself when something gets picked up and it just doesn't stop.

05:09And I was at my lowest ebb.

05:13I wanted to end my life.

05:15I, you know, I would have if I hadn't been surrounded by people.

05:20At one point, one of the newspapers was so relentless.

05:23I remember saying to my girlfriend, I remember saying, I have to, I have to kill myself.

05:29I have to because this is what, sorry, this is what they want.

05:33They just want me to kill.

05:34The same people that were writing Be Kind a few years ago.

05:37Yes.

05:38Are still, are still relentlessly going after you day after day after day.

05:42And that is exhausting.

05:43It is.

05:44You can't sleep.

05:45You can't do anything.

05:46No.

05:47You're just full of these thoughts the entire time and it just takes over your life.

05:51And how has your family and friends been able to turn that around for you?

05:56And how have you turned that around?

05:57So I was under the crisis team for a month where they just look after you the whole time.

06:03And my friends and my family and my girlfriend did a rota that they could be with me 24 hours a day sitting up with me because it was just so relentless.