DEVASTATED Wynne Evans says he was forced to apologise over his “spit-roast” comment — and denied it was a sex slur.
Strictly bosses issued an apology after the incident on the show’s sell-out tour.
But the tenor said: “I didn’t see the statement. Old Spit-roast Boy was a nickname for Jamie Borthwick. I’m not a bad guy, I’m not a misogynist, I’m not any of these things."
Wynne insists his errors on the show were just pranks which backfired.
The opera singer, 53, also detailed his terrifying mental health collapse in the wake of his suspension, admitting he was on 24/7 suicide watch by an NHS crisis team.
In his first interview, he lays bare the truth behind the three allegations levelled against him as he finally sets the record straight.
It comes four months after a video emerged of him saying “spit-roast” at a Strictly photocall which, it was claimed, was in relation to married pro Janette Manrara.
He says: “It’s been heartbreaking. ‘Spit-roast boy’ was a nickname we all gave [fellow contestant] Jamie Borthwick because he could contort his legs over his head like a spit-roast chicken.
“I would be the first to apologise if I had used it in the double meaning of that word.
"But it absolutely wasn’t meant sexually - and the fact I used ‘boy’, all right it’s nuanced, but it shows I was talking to Jamie, NOT Janette.
“Anyway two weeks after that photocall, I was sat in this hotel room and I start to get these calls saying, ‘You have used a term that is really offensive’.
“And then I’ve got my team ringing me, I’ve got the Strictly team ringing me, I’ve got the tour team ringing me.
"And of course, your natural reaction is, if you’re told you’ve offended someone, you say, ‘God, I’m so sorry’.
“And so I went, ‘I’m so sorry’. And that was taken as a formal apology, so the press team issued a statement. I didn’t see it.
"When I read the apology within the context of the story as it had been written, I was absolutely horrified.
“And I was embarrassed and I was ashamed of myself. Because the apology always makes it look worse. It validates the story.
“It’s been a truly awful past few months, having to keep my counsel and let the narrative that I’m some sort of weirdo run.
“I’m not a misogynist, I’m not any of these things.”
In the statement released on his behalf, the frontman of the Go Compare ads said: “My language was inappropriate and unacceptable for which I sincerely apologise.”
Two days prior to the photocall, Wynne’s beloved big brother Huw, a barrister, had died - and Wynne admits he was a grieving mess.
However, within 48 hours of the original story running, he was suspended by the BBC and axed from the tour. It was his 53rd birthday.
He only found out he’d been fired after reading it in The Sun - and days later discovered his BBC pass was deactivated without warning.
Plans for a second series of his popular BBC1 travelogue show with Joanna Page are also “on ice”. Privately, the Gavin and Stacey star has supported him, visiting him at his West Wales home, he says.
While the term “spit-roast” promises to haunt Wynne for ever, so will two further incidents which saw him hauled before bosses.
The first, dubbed “gropegate”, came when he moved his hand over pro partner Katya Jones’ waist in the Clauditorium.
The other was when The Sun on Sunday revealed he had sent a sex toy to Jamie, which the EastEnders star was caught on camera laughing about.
He deeply regrets both. Wynne explains: “So the Katya thing was a body-language experiment.
“It came from TikTok where they post clips with experts analysing body language.
I realise now you cannot make jokes like that in the workplace - it’s deeply unprofessional
Wynne Evans
"So Katya says to me, ‘Why don’t we create our own body-language experiment? Put your hand on my waist, I’ll move it back, and let’s see if people notice’. Naively, I said ‘OK’.
“So we did it, we laughed, we went downstairs to make-up and my phone explodes and I look at it . . . and let me tell you the body-language experiment worked.
"So we quickly made a video explaining it, went to the BBC and the BBC press team said, ‘No it’s too long, do another video, do a short one, just say I’m sorry and get on with it’. And that’s what we did.
“That was a massive mistake because the video of me moving my hand got two million hits and the apology got eight million so it compounded the situation.”
When told it gave him something of a reputation as a “weirdo and a sex pest”, he deadpans: “Well that’s kind of you to say.” He admits it was the “catalyst that started everything”.
Later, back on tour, the sex toy video also did for him.
‘Grope’
Wynne encountered a backlash after his Strictly pro partner Katya was filmed removing his hand from her waist.
Fans insisted she looked uncomfortable as she moved it away – but Katya later insisted there was no problem.
In joke
They then sparked further fury, when she was seen refusing to high-five the Opera singer.
The duo were quick to issue a video apology and insisted it was all an innocent "inside joke".
Crude joke
Wynne came under fire for allegedly telling a "crude" joke to one of the show's make-up artists.
Insiders claim the opera star made a joke that the folds of his double chin "looked like a vagina".
A source said: “It was a bit of a vulgar dad joke.”
Vile comment
Wynne was recorded suggesting a three-way sex session with presenter Janette Manrara, using the term "spit roast".
His remark came at a photocall to launch the Strictly live tour, which pro Janette, 41, is hosting.
He reportedly pulled a suggestive face at actor Jamie Borthwick as Janette moved between them — which is when Evans allegedly made the joke.
Wynne has apologised saying: "My language was inappropriate and unacceptable, for which I sincerely apologise."
He sighs: “Obviously in the light of everything else, it probably wasn’t the most sensible thing to do. But we were in the dressing room, Jamie’s talking about this sex toy, and everyone agreed with me we should send him one. I ordered it off Amazon.
“But it was a stupid joke that backfired, and I shouldn’t have done it. I realise now you cannot make jokes like that in the workplace - it’s deeply unprofessional.
“I’d be happy to go on any language and behavioural course that the BBC want to send me on. I’d be thrilled to go on a course that could save me from situations like this.
"Society’s changing so quickly and I’d be the first to say perhaps I’ve got it wrong on occasion. Unfortunately I wasn’t offered a course like that.
"All I want now is to focus on performing and get back to my radio show - I can’t quite believe I’ve ended up here and I just hope everyone can read this and know I’m not a bad guy.”
Wynne, a graduate of the prestigious Guildhall who has sung with Pavarotti and Placido Domingo during an illustrious 20-year career, says he has been inundated with support from his Strictly co-stars, including Janette.
He said: “Everyone has been really supportive, every single person has written to me and said, ‘I can’t believe what you’re going through’.
"I’ve had supportive messages from everyone from JB to Shayne Ward to Michelle [Visage], to Aljaz [Škorjanec] and Janette. She texted me to say, ‘Look after yourself and be strong’.”
Last May the BBC launched a probe after a formal complaint from actress Amanda Abbington into Giovanni Pernice’s behaviour.
A raft of ex-contestants then came forward with their own horror stories. Another dancer, Graziano Di Prima was then fired after a video emerged of him kicking his partner Zara McDermott.
Director General Tim Davie issued an unprecedented apology, and vowed to clean the show up.
So does the Welshman think he’s been made a scapegoat? Is he owed any apology from the BBC boss? And does he regret doing Strictly?
He said: “I wouldn’t use that word and it’s very difficult for the BBC because, historically, and by their own admission they’ve got it very, very wrong.
"So now they have to investigate everything, and they have to be seen to investigate everything. Personally I don’t think I was due an investigation but I understand why they’ve had to go through this process.
“It would be up to the DG if he wants to apologise to me but for me it wasn’t quite the experience I was hoping for.
“I’ve spoken to some people who had a hard time on the show and like I say it’s different personalities.
“I loved the dancing part, and I did do really well but the rest of it wasn’t right for me with my personality and with depression. It wasn’t the right thing.
“But I can see other people who have thrived on it, but for me it’s not something I would do again. I wish I hadn’t done it.”
On the subject of depression, Wynne is a passionate campaigner for mental health charities.
He previously spoke about a suicidal spell following his divorce from Tanwen in 2016 after 17 years of marriage, and has campaigned for the BBC on the topic.
Diagnosed with clinical depression at his lowest, Wynne takes anti-depressants citalopram and pregabalin and admits he planned his own suicide.
When you’ve got depression, my thing is I don’t want to kill myself . . . I just don’t want to be alive, and it took me to that place
Wynne Evans
However, he credits the NHS crisis team, who monitored him 24/7 for a month, for saving his life.
Wynne, who is not being paid for this interview, says: “I’ll always be grateful to them, the NHS crisis team in Carmarthen. They came and they looked after me every day, and when they weren’t with me, my friends were.
“When you’ve got depression, my thing is I don’t want to kill myself . . . I just don’t want to be alive, and it took me to that place.
“I just thought people want me to be dead and so I have to give them that. One day, it just got too much. I remember the crisis team were saying I couldn’t keep myself safe, and to come into hospital. That’s how bad it got.
“My friends would stay with me and they just took it in turns to sit at the end of the bed while I just lay there really because I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t do anything.
“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, I’m so grateful for all the support I’ve had, and I am just desperate to get back to doing the thing I love - my BBC Radio Wales show.”
Wynne credits the support and messages he has had from listeners as “making a real difference”.
BBC Studios, producers of the Strictly tour, did not comment.
