Strictly Come Dancing star Wynne Evans has apologised for an “inappropriate and unacceptable” remark he made to a woman during the show’s live tour launch.

The 52-year-old Welsh opera singer – who is famous for his role in GoCompare insurance adverts – has been touring with the live show after competing with professional dance partner Katya Jones last year.

He was heard making the remark to a woman in a video filmed during the launch event on 16 January, the Mail On Sunday reported.

“My language was inappropriate and unacceptable for which I sincerely apologise,” Evans said in a statement.

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.”

Evans missed dancing on the tour in Glasgow on Saturday due to an ankle injury and shared images of his bruised ankle in an Instagram story.

“Ankle’s getting a bit better, it was great to be able to sing in Glasgow tonight, even if I couldn’t dance, hopefully back tomorrow,” he said.

“But watch this space, I’ll let you know in the morning. See how the swelling goes down, and all that kind of stuff, thanks for all the lovely messages, amazing.”

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Apology over ‘joke’

In October, Evans and Jones apologised for a “joke” which saw her move Evans’ hand from her waist during the show.

Jones also appeared not to want to high-five her celebrity partner, which they called “a running joke”.

It comes after Strictly introduced chaperones “at all times” during rehearsals following several accusations of bullying on the show.

Holly Willoughby has revealed how a plot to murder her impacted her, saying “nothing can prepare you for something like that”.

In July last year, security guard Gavin Plumb, then aged 37, was found guilty of planning to kidnap, rape and kill the British television presenter.

Prosecutors said he was obsessed with the then This Morning host, who left the ITV show after 14 years in October 2023 following his arrest.

The 43-year-old celebrity waived her right to anonymity in connection with the charges against Plumb.

He was sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court to life in jail with a minimum term of 16 years.

In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Willoughby said of the past year: “It’s been a tough one. There’s no way of sugar-coating it.”

She added that you need to “decide, I can take this on board and it can absolutely affect all aspects of my life, or I can make a choice to go, let’s focus on everything that’s positive and good, all those important things”.

“I’m healthy and I’m happy,” she continued.

‘Positively moving forward’

“I’ve got a wonderful husband and children and family, I’ve got great friends. You have to go: I choose to positively move forward and rely on all those people – the police, the court, the judge, the jury – all those people to do their role. And that’s what I had to do.”

Willoughby also said she never felt she would crumble as it was “not an option”, and that “so many people go through tough things, they just do”.

She said it was “really simple and easy” to step away from This Morning. She also said she knew she would return to television, adding that she would “be an idiot if” money was not important to her working in TV.

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Police said Plumb had scoured social media and material online, amassing thousands of images of the star and gaining detailed knowledge of her activity and movements.

But Plumb – who has previous convictions for kidnap and attempted kidnap of women – had a sinister and violent streak and began plotting to abduct, attack and murder the television presenter.

During Plumb’s trial, an undercover US police officer told jurors he believed Plumb posed an “imminent threat” to the star after meeting him on a Kik messenger group called “Abduct Lovers”.

Plumb said in messages he planned to target Willoughby in a “home invasion”, using chloroform to subdue her and her husband, the TV producer Dan Baldwin, before tying them up, kidnapping her and repeatedly raping her.

He shared a video of his “kidnap kit” with the officer, who told Plumb he would travel from New York to help him carry out the plan, then alerted the FBI and police in the UK, who raided his flat in Harlow, Essex.

After Plumb’s conviction, Willoughby said women “should not be made to feel unsafe going about our daily lives and in our own homes”.

In a statement at the time, the TV presenter also thanked the undercover US police officer who helped foil the plot.

She said: “I will forever be grateful to the undercover police officer who understood the imminent threat, and to the Metropolitan and Essex police forces for their swift response.

“Thank you to the Crown Prosecution Service, the Rt Hon Mr Justice Murray, Alison Morgan KC, the members of the jury and all involved in this case for ensuring that justice was done and that the defendant will not be able to harm any more women.

“I would also like to commend the bravery of his previous victims for speaking up at the time. Without their bravery this conviction may not have been possible.”

A$AP Rocky fired blank shots from a prop gun in order to protect his friend, his lawyer has said on the first day of his trial.

The US rapper is accused of firing a gun at Terell Ephron, a former childhood friend who testified their relationship had soured and a feud allegedly came to a head on the night of 6 November 2021.

Jurors were shown surveillance videos a prosecutor argued made it clear Rocky fired a gun at Ephron outside a parking garage in Hollywood.

But Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, said in the defence opening statement the video evidence is meaningless without the testimony of the accuser, Ephron, who he argued is driven by “jealousy, lies and greed”. He said: “This case rises or falls on his credibility.”

He said the gun was actually a “starter pistol” that only shot blanks which Rocky carried for protection, something he argued Ephron knew.

The first video shown by the prosecution showed a physical struggle between two men, with two others intervening, when one of them – wearing a black hoodie – pulls out a gun and points it, but does not fire.

“The evidence in this case will show that the man in the black sweatshirt is the defendant, Rakim Mayers,” said Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec, using Rocky’s legal name. “That evidence will be uncontradicted.”

Rocky has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.

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‘He never believed he was going to be shot’

Mr Przelomiec told the jurors the four men in the video had all been members of the A$AP Collective and were old friends.

Ephron will testify he had been in a disagreement with Rocky and believed when they met up they would argue but reconcile, the prosecutor said.

The situation changed when Rocky pulled out a gun, but Ephron still pursued him as he walked away, Mr Przelomiec said, adding: “In his state of mind he never believed he was going to be shot.”

The defence lawyer argued Ephron was not scared because he “knew that gun wasn’t real”.

Scraped knuckles

Mr Przelomiec showed jurors a photo of bloody scrapes on Ephron’s knuckles which he said may have come from the shooting, but were irrelevant to the charges.

Mr Tacopina argued Ephron had actually been the aggressor and Rocky had fired blank shots from his prop gun to stop him from attacking one of their A$AP crew members who was with him, which was why Ephron scraped his knuckles.

He also said seven officers who searched the scene found neither shell casings nor a weapon.

Rapper turned down prosecution plea offer

The trial comes after the rapper turned down a final prosecution plea offer – to plead guilty to one of his two felony counts and serve 180 days in prison.

It means he faces a potential maximum jail sentence of 24 years if he is found guilty by jurors.

The trial is set to last about three weeks.

Rocky, a Grammy-nominated star, is in a relationship with Rihanna, and the couple have two toddler sons. The Umbrella singer was not in court.

Rocky has been named as one of the celebrity chairmen of this year’s Met Gala in May and has a major role in a Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington to be released soon after.