HAVING shot to fame thanks to his annoying TV adverts, Wynne Evans could very well be one of Stricly's most unlikely stars.
But the operatically talented Go Compare Man, 52, will earn a legion of fans on the BBC show this year - in part, thanks to his fascinating backstory.
The Cardiff-based singer went from being a struggling singer to a millionaire thanks to the comparison site commercials, which he rejected multiple times.
The divisive adverts would lead to death threats, him being named "C-bomb of the year" three times in a row in a poll and dubbed one of the UK's most hated people.
Wynne, who won Celebrity MasterChef last years, is now trading his apron for dancing shoes on Strictly - and while having the lowest-to-win odds at 40-1 could prove a fan favourite.
This week, the opera singer showed off the results of his astonishing six-stone weight loss, which he credits to exercising and following a diet that mostly consisted of cauliflower.
He has also ditched cheese and jam, two of his most loved foods, to get in shape for his appearance on the Strictly, which kicks off next Saturday.
Jokingly mocking his weight, Wynne said: "The stuff I’m more nervous about is doing something like the jive because I represent every portly middle-aged father who jumps and could set a minor tsunami off in North London.
“I’m kind of a bit nervous about that".
Born in Carmarthen, Wales, Wynne studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio.
After graduating he lived hand-to-mouth. He earned £350 per gig and to save money on a hotel, would drive home after performances - despite having shows all over the UK.
Wynne's big breakthrough came in 2009 when he was cast as flamboyant Italian tenor Gio Compario in the Go Compare adverts.
Characterised by his three-piece suit, eccentric hairstyle, and bizarre moustache, the act quickly caught on and became an instant classic.
Throughout the years, Wynne has performed with many celebrities in the adverts, such as Sue Barker, Stuart Pearce, and Ray Mears.
When the idea of Go Compare first came to him, he was asked to meet a woman who worked for the company.
But he almost rejected it as he had joined the Welsh Operatic Society and felt his career was about to take off.
In an interview on the Starting Line podcast, he explained: "I remember they said to me, 'oh, can you go and meet the woman from Go Compare?' I went, no, no, I'm just saying, you either want me for the job or you don't want me for the job."
He continued: "I said I'm going home to Cardiff anyway. [They said] she lives in Cardiff. I said, yeah, but I'm going to North Cardiff. And they went like, yeah, yeah, that's exactly where she lives.
"She lived about 10 minutes away from me. And we met in a pub. I went because it was a big secret. We met in this beer garden of a pub near where she lives now, actually and we did the deal."
UK's 'most hated'
When the advert came out and went viral, Wynne found that it would not be as rosy as he may have expected.
He said: "When the ad came out - I can only say this with swearing, it was f***ing horrific. People hated it. People hated me. I was voted the C-Bomb of the year for three years in a row.
"Heat Magazine asked me to do an interview and I said, only if you stop making me c**t of the week. That is the only reason I will do an interview with you."
Wynne had no idea how big the commercials would be. He said: It was incredibly memorable and it was on all the time. I didn't realise the media spend was gonna be so big. [There was an] enormous media spend on that."
He was told about a Facebook hate group dedicated to him with thousands of members.
"I was astonished that there would even be a hate site", he said.
"I looked at it and I thought f***, that's a lot of people. I thought I needed to get a gauge of how hated I am.
"I would look up someone that I hate and see how many people are a member of their [hate] site. So I looked up Nick Griffin, who used to be the leader of the British National Party. Not a nice man at all, and 75,000 people on Facebook agreed with me.
"'I hate Wynne Evans That Go.Compare Man' had 2.75million followers. It was about three weeks after the ad came out. It was horrific. I took it really badly."
Bizarre fans
It got so bad that vile trolls would send him nasty messages on social media.
He explains: "It was the first major ad in the age of social network. People could interact with you immediately. And they'd say 'I hope your mother dies of cancer.'"
"It took me about a year or maybe 18 months. When someone calls you a t**t once - when they've done it like 500 times it's water off a duck's back."
He had people singing the Go Compare song to him in the weirdest of places.
"People were singing it to me in toilets", he said. "I had someone singing it to me at my grandmother's funeral.
"Someone asked me for a selfie at my grandmother's funeral. I remember taking the selfie, and you could see the coffin in the background. It was just out of hand."
At the height of his issues, Go.Compare had to hire security to escort him.
He recalls: "I did have a problem in the early days, like a death threat. [They] arranged security for me. I used to think it was an overreaction, and they used to say you only need one letter.
"People didn't like the ad so we had a few incidents they considered to be proper risks. Back in 2009 there was this thing called happy slapping.
"I was working at the Royal Opera House and it got out that I was working [there]. My name wasn't famous. The Go Compare man was famous.
"They said should we do a happy slapping on him on this day because we know he's gonna be in this place singing."
Wynn also said people would write him letters talking about sexual activities with him with the Go.Compare moustache on.
Millionaire moment
For the first year, he was paid considerably less until her manager stepped in.
"I remember what I got paid the first year", he says. "It was £25,000. I was on a three-year contract. It was £25,000 a year for three years.
"And [the manager] called me and she goes, 'We're doing really well. We are making more money than we could have ever dreamt of.
"We've gone from a company that was not impactful to a major price comparison website. So I think you should share in the success.
"And she said I'm going to tear up your contract. She said I want you to go away and come back to renegotiate your contract. Renegotiate it knowing what you know."
He adds: "She said to me how much do you want and I didn't know what to ask for. I said double, so £50,000, and she goes, 'I think we can do better than that'. I can't remember the exact figure but I think it was upwards towards £100,000.
"That was in 2009. It was life-changing."
Bizarre celeb encounters
Thanks to Go Compare, Wynne has met and worked with many notable people, including Professor Stephen Hawking.
Explaining his "bizarre" encounter with the late cosmologist while filming a Go.Compare advert in 2013, he said: "Stephen Hawking wanted to be in it. [He was a] massive opera fan.
"We ended up doing this other gig together in Edinburgh where I sang and he did the presentation. It was a friendship that no one saw coming.
"I wanted to see Stephen Hawking and when he comes into the room, I had that real feeling. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I go over to him and I hadn't quite thought it through.
"It took him a minute to formulate a word. He's got a sensor in his glasses and he looks left and right. That moves the mouse on the screen and a blink is a click.
"So I say, 'Hello Stephen, it's such a pleasure to meet you, and on behalf of Go Compare, thank you so much for doing this ad.'
"He's trying to write a sentence back because it's silence for minutes. I say to fill the silence, 'Are you going anywhere nice on your holiday this year?' to the brainiest man in the world."
Wynne added: "As I'm walking away he plays something that he has obviously pre-programmed and it goes 'Hasta la vista, fatty'."
Throughout his career, Wynne has made some unlikely friendships, including with singer Jamelia and former Love Island contestant Luca Bish.
He has also met Esther Rantzen who he had a conversation with about the effects of loneliness and worked with comedians such as Jimmy Carr and Alan Carr.
Wynne is not the only famous member of his family. His mother was Liz Evans MBE. She founded and ran both The Carmarthen Youth Opera and The Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen for 25 years.
Liz led a campaign that convinced Steven Spielberg to hold a premiere of Jurassic Park in Carmarthen in 1993 to help save the Lyric Theatre.
A movie about the achievement was released in 2022. Wynne made a small cameo by playing himself.
Wynne was married to Welsh violinist Tanwen Evans for 17 years until 2006.
They first met when they were both on the same British Youth Orchestra course and it was Tanwen who made the first move.
They married in 1999 and have two children together - a daughter named Ismay and son called Taliesin.
Wynne said he went through "the worst depression" during the breakdown of their marriage and even considered suicide.
He said: "I would think about [suicide], I would try and action it... I couldn't see a way out; I couldn't see a way of ever being happy again."
Thankfully, Wynne has battled past his struggles and is quickly carving out a lucrative TV career including winning Celebrity MasterChef last year.
He's also appeared in the Sky drama Stella and multiple shows with pal Joanna Paige - star of Gavin and Stacey - including Celebrity Antiques Road Trip, Pointless Celebrities and a new programme about Welsh coastlines.
Now Wynne's biggest gig so far, appearing on Strictly holds a lot of promise and he jokingly quipped about being unafraid to bribe the judges for better scores.
He said: "I will give it my all and aim to make Wales proud. I’m definitely going to try and combine my love of Opera into one of my routines.
"Plus, after winning Celebrity MasterChef last year, maybe the route to the judges’ hearts will be through their stomachs!’
