Strictly star Wynne Evans looks unrecognisable in Phantom of the Opera stint

Welsh opera vocalist Wynne Evans, who is competing connected this year's Strictly Come Dancing, erstwhile starred successful a prestigious Andrew Lloyd Webber gala show astatine the Royal Albert Hall

Strictly Come Dancing's Wynne Evans volition beryllium hoping to travel backmost warring contiguous aft the awkward 'grope joke' fiasco.

The Welsh opera vocalist sparked speculation erstwhile helium enactment his manus connected his nonrecreational creation spouse Katya Jones's waist connected the amusement and she brushed it off. Katya, 35, dismissed the incidental arsenic an "inside joke", with different clip showing Wynne, 52, going successful for a precocious 5 with his creation pro and being snubbed.

"I'm perfectly heartbroken by the things that person been written astir maine successful the past day," said the BBC Radio Wales presenter. "It's not bully to unrecorded successful that clip but fundamentally Katya and I are really, truly adjacent and we're truly bully friends, and connected Saturday nighttime we made a anserine joke."

The brace had won an awesome 34 points for their Tango to Abba's Money, Money, Money and this isn't the archetypal awesome show successful Wynne's backmost catalogue. Strictly fans person been stunned to find clips of the star, who modestly describes himself arsenic a "portly balding opera singer", looking unrecognisable arsenic helium performed successful the Phantom of the Opera backmost successful 2011.

Wynne played Ubaldo Piangi, the portly and accomplished Italian tenor successful the Paris Opera House, successful 3 gala performances for the Royal Albert Hall's 25th day solemnisation of the classical Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Pictures from the show amusement the prima successful golden armour and feather-topped headwear, with a goatee beard. In different snaps, he's wearing a three-piece airy brownish suit.

The opera singer, who studied astatine the Guildhall School of Music and National Opera Studio, offered to audition for the philharmonic supremo, but his philharmonic producer, Sir Cameron Mackintosh, offered the relation connected the spot. "Andrew and Cameron cognize I'm rather a bully quality histrion and I deliberation it's an perfect comic portion for me," helium said.

The prima has enjoyed a vocation successful opera spanning a 4th of a decade, with 2 number-one classical euphony albums. He has performed astatine the Royal Albert Hall much than 200 times and appeared successful productions of classical operas including La bohème, Rigoletto and Salome.

The singer's astir celebrated role, however, is playing Gio Compario successful the Go Compare TV adverts. He spent a staggering 11 years portraying the much-loved character, making much than 100 adverts for the brand.

"The advert gave maine the accidental to marque an medium that I wouldn't person got otherwise," helium told the Telegraph. "I consciousness incredibly fortunate." Gio famously sported a agelong curly moustache. "The moustaches I deterioration for the TV adverts outgo £1,000 each to marque but are captious to my character," Wynne erstwhile revealed.

"I truly panicked erstwhile I thought 1 had been lost. My girl had taken it to schoolhouse for a 'show and tell' lesson. It came backmost successful a packet of food and bulb crisps."