WYNNE Evans has accused the BBC of abandoning him in the wake of a series of controversies that erupted during and after his time on Strictly Come Dancing.
In his first public TV appearance since the scandal the opera singer, 53, claimed he had not been contacted by the BBC after being axed from his Radio Wales show.
The corporation said he was offered a dedicated contact at the BBC and was offered "continued" mental health support since his contract concluded.
“I haven’t heard from the BBC since I got suspended, personally, they've only spoke to my lawyers” Wynne told This Morning hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard.
“I just think that sometimes mental health is talked about ... and sometimes I fear that it’s lip service that they give.
“Mental health is still a really grey area — where we can say we’ve got that policy in place, but actually you need to look after people with mental health issues.
“It was a joke that went too far. He [Jamie] had been talking about this thing backstage — everyone in the dressing room was like, lets get him one.
“I ordered one off Amazon, and as soon as it arrived, it never left the dressing room, it went straight in the bin. The joke was over.
“I didn’t know he made a video and sent it to a friend saying it had been given to him. And yeah, it was a joke that went too far. And I apologise for that.”
Another moment under scrutiny was when Wynne was accused of inappropriately touching professional dancer Katya Jones during rehearsals.
Ben described the situation as a “catalogue of moments” that led viewers to question Wynne’s character.
But Wynne said Katya had planned that moment, and she dragged him to the cameras as they stood in the gallery with Claudia Winkleman.
He said: “Katya said to me, right you put your hand on my waist, I'll move it back we'll see if anybody picks it up. And boy did they pick it up. She drags me saying, 'let's get down the front'."
Admitting there had been errors made, he said to Ben and Cat: “I totally understand why people were upset by that and I apologise.
“I don’t want to sit here today coming across as a victim because I’m not — I’m naive."
He admitted they saw the backlash online almost immediately and he insisted they make an apology video on social media that night.
“Katya says to me, ‘Have you seen what people are saying on Twitter, Instagram?’ ...
“I’m sat in make-up afterwards and I go, ‘Oh my word this is terrible.’
“I say, ‘We need to make an apology video.’
“So we did — it was 50 seconds long.”
He claimed the BBC made them cut the video down, which he believed was the wrong decision.
He said: “They said just make it ten seconds.
“So of course it turns into some sort of hostage style video.
“It was just a body language experiment that was picked up on."
Wynne also explained his side of a misheard comment during a photo call, where it was alleged he directed the offensive term "spitroast" toward professional dancer Janette Manrara.
Wynne was axed after the video went viral.
“The reporters had left, we were there having stills (photos) taken.
“I was there talking to Jamie Borthwick — I had this nickname for him, which was 'old' and then the word in question, and then 'boy', I used to call him this because he could contort his legs over his head.
“I didn't know there was a reporter there still recording apparently from a distance away, they took their spin on it their own narrative, taken out the words ‘old’ and ‘boy’, which you can absolutely see in the video, it’s absolutely crystal clear.
“When we've had the volume looked at they're there, the words are there for everyone to see.
“Even though I’m looking at Jamie, they claimed I’m directing this word at Janette.
“Totally taken out of context, the narrative is so wrong on it.
“I was shocked and horrified. Instead of a nickname with another word for rotisary, it's turned into a sexual innuendo, I was mortified by it.
“I'd spoken to Janette afterwards — A, she she didn’t hear it.
“B, there’s never been any complaints about me ever.”
Wynne revealed the moment the press tour rang him to question the alleged remark.
“I’d just lost my brother, I’d broken my foot, I was lying in a hotel room, papers calling me. The Strictly press tour rang me saying I’m meant to have said this word. I said, ‘Oh God, I’m sorry.’
“They took that as an apology and sent it to the papers — that looked like I’d validated the story.”
Wynne also referenced a TV moment when Ben almost accidentally flashed too much, in 2019, and said: “It was interesting, actually — I saw you (Ben) on Burns night when the kilt was lifted on Lorraine — that’s a very similar situation.
“I did a stupid thing, I happened to be on television and caught by the press, but the narrative was changed.
“When I’m reading a headline that says ‘sex pest’…”
It comes after Wynne told The Sun he wanted to take his own life in his darkest moments.
He only found out he’d been fired by the BBC after reading it in The Sun - and days later discovered his BBC pass was deactivated without warning.
He told us: “One of the things I was disappointed with the BBC about is I’ve spoken openly about my mental health, I’ve made programmes for the BBC about it, done stuff for Mental Health Day.
"I’ve done long interviews for them where I’ve talked about wanting to kill myself.
“Nobody should use that as an excuse if it’s not what they’re going through. But I’ve catalogued my mental health for years and I’ve been really open about it, so it was really hard and I felt like I was pushed to the real end.
“But I am feeling a lot stronger now.”
Wynne, who proposed to his girlfriend in Morocco, also said he regrets signing up to Strictly.
He told Cat and Ben today: “I wouldn’t do it. It wasn’t a safe environment for me.
“I loved Katya and the guys that were there. I’m happy now to be back in Wales.”
He also revealed that he’s launching his own new radio show: The Wynne Evans Show, airing weekdays from 9am to 12pm on his website.
“I’m going to start my own show on Monday,” he said, adding: “I’m happy to be moving on.”
