Wynne Evans, the Welsh opera singer and ex-BBC presenter best known as the “Go Compare” tenor, has revealed that he “ended up in hospital” after a suicide attempt triggered by the scandals surrounding his Strictly Come Dancing appearance and its aftermath. His story highlights how a TV dance show, public controversy and intense online and media scrutiny collided with existing mental health struggles and pushed him to a life‑threatening crisis.
Who is Wynne Evans?
Wynne Evans is a Welsh tenor, broadcaster and actor, widely recognised for fronting the long-running Go Compare insurance adverts and for his classical music career with multiple chart-topping albums. He also presented a daily show on BBC Radio Wales and gained further mainstream fame by winning Celebrity MasterChef in 2023.
Born in Carmarthen in 1971, Wynne Evans built a respected career in opera and on the concert stage before becoming a familiar TV personality. By the time he joined Strictly Come Dancing, he had spent years in the public eye, but not under the level of scrutiny that would follow his time on the show.
Strictly Come Dancing and the ‘handgate’ row
Wynne Evans competed on Strictly Come Dancing in 2024, partnered with professional dancer Katya Jones for the show’s 20th anniversary series. Viewers quickly picked up on several awkward on‑screen moments, particularly when Jones moved his hand away from her waist and appeared to refuse a high‑five live on air.
Those incidents were later described by the pair as joking “hijinks” and a running gag, with Jones insisting she was not uncomfortable and that the interaction was taken out of context. However, the clips circulated widely online, with some viewers branding his behaviour “creepy”, a word Wynne Evans himself has since used while apologising for how it looked on television.
The tour incident and BBC exit
The Strictly controversy escalated during the live tour at the start of 2025, when Wynne Evans made what he later called an “inappropriate and unacceptable” sexual remark to a colleague during a photo call. The comment, reported by the media as involving an explicit slang term, prompted public criticism and an official apology from Evans, who admitted the language was not suitable for a professional environment.
In the months that followed, the BBC decided not to renew his contract, effectively ending his BBC Radio Wales role and cutting his formal ties with the corporation. Wynne Evans has said he “paid the ultimate price” for his “totally stupid” behaviour on Strictly, describing how the fallout cost him his job and damaged his reputation within the industry.
Mounting pressure and online harassment
As the scandals played out, Wynne Evans found himself at the centre of intense public and tabloid attention, with his Strictly moments repeatedly shared and dissected on social media. He has described being “hounded” by the press and online commenters, saying that every gesture on screen was magnified and criticised in a way he had never experienced before.
In interviews, Wynne Evans has linked his distress to the wider culture of public pile‑ons and to recent high‑profile cases, such as that of Caroline Flack, which made him fear that the only way to make the scrutiny stop would be to remove himself from the spotlight entirely. He now says that this thinking was deeply mistaken and ultimately harmful to himself and his family, but at the time, he felt cornered by the continuous negative focus.
The suicide attempt and hospitalisation
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and in other media interviews, Wynne Evans revealed that the pressure around the Strictly scandals culminated in him attempting to take his own life. He explained that someone found him after the attempt, called an ambulance, and he was rushed to the hospital, where he received emergency treatment and mental health support.
Wynne Evans has summed up the experience by saying he “went on a dancing show and ended up trying to take [his] own life”, emphasising how a light‑entertainment series spiralled, for him, into a personal crisis. He credits the intervention of others and the medical team who treated him with the fact that he is still alive.
Previous mental health struggles
Long before Strictly, Wynne Evans had spoken publicly about living with depression, describing “very dark thoughts” that began around 2016 during the breakdown of his marriage. He has said that a combination of therapy, medication, and a commitment to exercise including running, which helped him lose more than seven stone played a central role in managing his mental health.
His earlier openness made him a visible advocate for talking about mental health, particularly among men in the public eye. The Strictly ordeal, however, showed that even someone with coping tools and prior experience of managing depression can be overwhelmed when professional crisis, public shaming and personal vulnerability collide.
Apologies, accountability and BBC response
Evans has repeatedly acknowledged that some of his actions on and around Strictly were wrong, describing his behaviour as “totally stupid” and admitting that the footage could look inappropriate to viewers. He has apologised to colleagues and the audience, stressing that while he intended his antics with Jones as light‑hearted, he now understands how they could be perceived and regrets the impact.
The BBC, for its part, has stated that it provided duty‑of‑care support to Evans, including access to wellbeing professionals and a named contact, and that ongoing help has been offered since his departure. Evans has not disputed that support existed but has made clear that, in his mind, it did not outweigh the sense of being under constant attack once the scandals took hold.
Rebuilding, reflection and speaking out
Since his hospitalisation, Evans has slowly stepped back into public life, using interviews and appearances to talk more candidly about what happened and why he reached such a desperate point. He says the experience has forced him to examine his own behaviour, his relationship with fame and how fragile mental health can become under sustained external pressure.
He has also indicated that he wants to use his story to help others who feel trapped by public judgment or online abuse, encouraging open conversations about suicidal thoughts and the importance of seeking help. At the same time, he has been clear that he does not want this period to define his entire career, and that he is learning from his mistakes without allowing them to completely dictate his future.
What Wynne Evans’ story shows about mental health and fame
Evans’ account underlines how quickly a reality‑TV controversy can snowball into personal disaster when combined with existing depression and the relentless pace of social media commentary. It highlights the need for broadcasters to balance entertainment with robust safeguarding, and for audiences to remember that behind every viral clip is a human being with a private life and vulnerabilities.
His survival and willingness to speak openly also provide a powerful reminder that suicidal crises, however overwhelming in the moment, can pass, especially when others intervene and professional help is available. Evans’ hope now is that sharing the darkest chapter of his Strictly journey will not only contextualise his own mistakes but may also prevent someone else from feeling that ending their life is the only way to escape public pressure.
