Wynne Evans to ‘take time out’ from Strictly Come Dancing live tour

The opera singer Wynne Evans has announced he will be taking time out of his BBC radio show and the Strictly Live tour to “prioritise his wellbeing”.

Evans, who celebrated his 53rd birthday on Monday, was due to take to the stage on Tuesday evening as part of the Strictly Come Dancing live tour in Liverpool.

Last weekend the tenor apologised for an “inappropriate and unacceptable” remark made during the tour launch.

Evans, known for the Go Compare insurance advertisements, was heard making a sexualised remark to a woman in a video filmed during the event in Birmingham on 16 January, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The Guardian understands he was given a warning over the remark by tour producers.

In a statement on Tuesday, Evans said: “I’ve agreed with the BBC that I’ll take some time out from my radio show and the Strictly Live tour, as well as my other public commitments, to prioritise my wellbeing.

“I am deeply sorry for the pain my inappropriate actions have caused, and plan to take this time for self-reflection.

“Apologies to those I won’t get to see at the remaining performances and I’m grateful to my fellow tour gang for all the amazing support they have given me.”

Evans has been touring the UK with the live show after competing on the BBC programme with Russian professional dancer Katya Jones last year.

He will also take time off from presenting his weekday show on BBC Radio Wales.

Last weekend, a spokesperson for the Strictly Live tour and BBC Studios 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.”

In October, Jones defended her Strictly Come Dancing partner after a separate incident when she moved his hand from her waist before snubbing his attempt at a high-five.

The incident, caught on the show’s cameras, caused some people to ask if it was evidence of inappropriate behaviour.

The BBC said its welfare team had looked into the matter and was not planning to take further action.

Appearing on spin-off show It Takes Two alongside Evans, Jones said she wanted to “get something out of the way that I feel overshadowed our performance for absolutely no reason”.

“Quite frankly I can’t bear sitting here watching this man being portrayed as someone he is not,” she said.

“And in fact it couldn’t be further away from the truth, so I have to make this absolutely clear, that this whole incident with the hand and the high-five on Saturday night, it was an inside joke between Wynne and I. Was it a silly joke? Yes. Was it a bad joke? Yes.”

She added: “Even the idea that it made me feel uncomfortable or offended in any way is total nonsense.”

Evans said at the time he had watched the moment back and he “could see how people may have misinterpreted it”.