BBC Strictly Come Dancing Wynne Evans' heartbreaking marriage split and battle with mental illness

Shortly after being revealed as a contestant on this years' Strictly Come Dancing, Welsh opera singer Wynne Evans laid bare how his battle with mental illness. He recently spoke about how the break-up of his marriage had forced him into a deep depression, leaving him suffering from an 'irrational fear' of being alone.

And while the broadcaster has fought hard to overcome the struggles with his mental health, this week he says he has been left 'heartbroken' after facing a fierce backlash from Strictly viewers over 'a silly joke that went wrong' with his dance partner Katya Jones.

Speaking on Monday on BBC Radio Wales, where he presents a show, Wynne said: "I'm absolutely heartbroken by the things that have been written about me in the last day. It's not nice to live in that time."

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This is after Strictly fans noticed during last Saturday night's show an odd moment where the 52-year-old's dance partner Katya seemed to be pushing his hand away from her hip and then snubbing his high five. Clips of this were widely shared on social media and there has been much discussion around the footage this week.

But Katya dismissed the controversy as a "silly joke" during an appearance on BBC spin-off show It Takes Two on Monday evening. And Wynne has further defended their actions, adding on BBC Radio Wales: "Basically Katya and I are really, really close and we're really good friends, and on Saturday night we made a stupid joke. It was a stupid joke that went wrong, okay? We thought it was funny. It wasn't funny. It has been totally misinterpreted."

Wynne, who is famous for appearing on the Go Compare adverts and has