Wynne Evans's Partridge-esque one-man radio show got off to the worst possible start
What career options do the 'cancelled' men of Britain have? Phillip Schofield felt sorry for himself on a desert island (for Channel 5). Russell Brand turned to the Wild West of YouTubing. Gregg Wallace has pivoted to being a healthy-living influencer. For Wynne Evans – opera singer, Go Compare man, BBC radio presenter, Strictly Come Dancing scandal-generator – the response is to stubbornly carry on as before.
This morning, a few weeks after announcing his BBC contract had not been renewed, he launched a rival to his old Radio Wales morning gig, The Wynne Evans Show, imploring his fans, the 'Wynners', to follow him on this new, DIY journey. Thousands did and were treated to a debut show beset by technical gremlins, filled with every emotion under the sun, swamped by a sense of grievance, yet containing glimmers of the heart-on-sleeve appeal that Evans has.
Evans does not keep his cards close to his chest, and the past few days have seen an emotional This Morning appearance, newsletters filled with details about his homemade technical set-up, his 'holibobs' and struggles with his mental health, and Facebook posts laced with bitterness about his old BBC bosses.
No doubt his old bosses will have been amused (and perhaps relieved) that the show got off to the worst possible start, as the first song, Robbie Williams's Let Me Entertain You, was accompanied by horrific electronic screeching. Several times Evans seemed to unplug something. The WhatsApp number and YouTube channel collapsed. Evans's one-man band, hosted from his front room, sounded distinctly ramshackle.
That can be forgiven on day one – more off-putting was Evans's score-settling, dragging his rebirth into territory once occupied by Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge. Insistence that he was moving on and not dwelling on the incidents that soured his time on Strictly rang hollow, particularly when he announced that his first Question of the Day was: have you ever been fired?
There were several references to 'the Other Side' and some truly Partridge-esque glee when he announced his listening figures, at 35,000, were already well above his old show. 'On the Other Side, we would have had a meeting with 10 people this morning,' he said. 'Today, I had a meeting with myself. And I still managed to get reported to HR!' Jokes like this are perhaps unwise following the Mail on Sunday's story about the seven separate grievances raised by BBC Wales employees against Evans between July 2023 and August 2024.
Yet among the slightly unconvincing 'having the last laugh' rhetoric, there were recognisable glimmers of Evans's appeal. Having told the listeners 'he would not be here' without them, he received truly moving emotional honesty in return. One caller, Becky, spoke of her husband, Caleb, who had died last month from cancer, at the age of 37. Evans was reduced to tears, as many listeners will have been, as Becky spoke of their two-year-old, Connor. It was moments such as these where Evans's affable, emotional, warts-and-all persona shone. If he can truly move on from the Other Side and He Who Shall Not Be Named (what he calls Strictly), and focus on his bond with his thousands of fans, then Evans really could have the last laugh. 'I still haven't heard from the BBC,' he said at one point. The suspicion is, he is still waiting for that call.
The Wynne Evans Show is on at 9am every weekday at wynneevansshow.com
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