The BBC encountered a new problem recently when a celebrity from Strictly Come Dancing was caught on camera by The Mail on Sunday making an inappropriate sexual remark about one of the female hosts of the show.
Wynne Evans, the tenor famous for his appearances in the Go Compare commercials and as a presenter on BBC radio, was recorded making a distasteful suggestion of a sexual nature involving presenter Janette Manrara, using an offensive term ‘spit roast’.
This incident took place during a photo opportunity for the launch of the Strictly live tour and led to a swift condemnation from BBC executives who explicitly stated: ‘Such behavior will not be accepted.’
This is not the first time Evans has threatened the reputation of the BBC’s biggest show as it attempts to recover from a string of scandals.
During last year’s televised shows, the 52-year-old was accused of ‘groping’ his dance partner Katya Jones, 35, although the pair dismissed it as a joke that had been misunderstood.
Evans’s latest crass comments came as he posed for pictures with Ms Manrara, 41, a professional dancer who is hosting the live tour, and EastEnders actor Jamie Borthwick, 30.
The reaction of Ms Manrara is unclear on the footage as she is momentarily obscured by other Strictly stars. But Borthwick appears to wince as Evans sniggers to himself.
Evans pulled out of a Glasgow performance of the Strictly tour yesterday, citing an ankle injury. But he told The Mail on Sunday: ‘My language was inappropriate and unacceptable, for which I sincerely apologise.’
A spokesman for BBC Studios and the Strictly Live tour producers 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.’
The incident was captured on video and audio by a Mail on Sunday reporter at the official launch of this year’s tour at the Birmingham Arena ten days ago, and brings new embarrassment to the BBC after a string of scandals.
In the worst, news anchor Huw Edwards was convicted of accessing indecent images of children as young as seven.
Later Gregg Wallace was forced to step away from MasterChef amid allegations of sexually inappropriate behaviour. And Strictly itself, long celebrated as wholesome entertainment, was itself plagued by controversy.
In the MoS film Evans, a presenter on BBC Radio Wales, stands in the middle of a line-up of 20 celebrities and dancers as Ms Manrara, who hosts the TV spin-off Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two, is summoned to join them. As she approaches, Evans warns her with a grin: ‘Not too close to Jamie!’
He then pulls a suggestive face at the actor, behind Ms Manrara’s back, as she moves between them. It is at this point that Evans makes his disgusting joke at her expense.
Seconds later, her dancer husband Aljaz Skorjanec, who was standing nearby, asks her: ‘Darling, are you OK?’ She replies curtly: ‘Yep.’
Yesterday, Ms Manrara’s spokeswoman said the host had been ‘unaware of this comment by Wynne’ which was audible to our reporter filming with a mobile phone 20 yards away.
In addition to appearing on Strictly last year, father-of-two Evans won Celebrity MasterChef in 2023. His new BBC1 travel show, All At Sea, with Gavin and Stacey star Joanna Page, begins tomorrow night.
That his ‘spit-roast’ comment was made at a media event will infuriate Corporation bosses still struggling to repair Strictly’s tainted image following bullying complaints and junior staff’s claims of a ‘toxic’ behind-the-scenes culture.
Three days into rehearsals in 2023, actress Amanda Abbington complained about her dance partner Giovanni Pernice.
A year later the BBC apologised to her, upholding verbal bullying and harassment complaints but clearing Pernice of physical aggression.
Then Graziano Di Prima was sacked after footage from rehearsals showed him kicking Love Island star Zara McDermott.
Last year Evans won millions of Strictly fans with his jollity and determination to learn to dance, but then suddenly faced criticism after viewers spotted a grimacing Ms Jones forcibly removing his hand as it strayed across her waist as they faced the cameras backstage.
Afterwards Evans tried to give his partner a high five, but she shot him a scathing look, rolled her eyes and turned away.
Attempting to defuse the row, Evans and Ms Jones said they were ‘just messing around’ and that it was a ‘very silly inside joke’.
But two weeks later the Welsh tenor’s ‘jokes’ caused further controversy when he suggested to a make-up artist that the folds of his double chin looked like a vagina.
Evans apparently insisted his joke was self-deprecating, did not cause offence and was made in a private conversation with at least one other person in the room. It is unclear if a complaint was made or whether the incident was investigated.
A week after the ‘spit-roasting’ comment Evans appeared on The One Show to talk about the ‘banter’ on tour. He said: ‘It’s fun… Craig [Revel Horwood] called me yesterday, he said I was stompy and flat-footed.
‘So I said: ‘Have you heard your album, mate, that’s stompy and flat if ever I’ve heard it!’ So yeah, there’s quite a lot of banter.
‘He gave me a two yesterday, so I was absolutely gutted, just because I was a bit rude about his album.’
Evans suffered clinical depression and his weight rose to 22 stone after he and his wife of 17 years, Tanwen, decided to get divorced in 2016.
He is now dating Liz Brookes, aged 50, an events manager and fitness fanatic credited with his dramatic seven-stone weight loss.
