Strictly Come Dancing’s Wynne Evans struggled in ‘sad house with no windows’ after split

Wynne Evans has admitted he never wanted to leave his marital home, but had to move into a 'derelict' property after his divorce.

Strictly Come Dancing’s Wynne Evans struggled after moving into a “sad house” with “no glass in the windows” after his divorce.

Wynne bought his Cardiff home after splitting from his wife of 16 years, Tanwen, eight years ago. The 52-year-old BBC Radio Wales presenter admits he never wanted to leave the home they shared with their two children.

However, after their split, opera star Wynne put in an offer on a derelict home he wasn’t even sure he wanted. He said the house was “terrible” and in a state of disrepair when he bought it.

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Speaking on The Starting Line podcast with Rich Leigh, Wynne said: “It was a really sad house, because it was derelict, and I moved here after a divorce. I didn’t want to move here, I wanted to stay married.

“So I bought it and it just became sad. It was a sad place.”

Wynne’s move into the property started off on a bad foot, with the central heating “blowing up” when he first tried to put it on. The lack of furnishings also meant his two children were left living in tents in their bedrooms when visiting their father.

The priority for Wynne was to sort out his children’s bedrooms. It left him sleeping on his dead parents’ bed he had brought with him from Carmarthen.

He continued: “I got the kids bedrooms ready first and I had to get new heating put in. And I was living in a bedroom, bearing in mind I’m presenting everyday on Radio Wales, I was doing GoCompare, I was doing all these things and people thought I was successful but I was living in a bedroom with no windows, with no glass in them.

“It was boarded up because all of the windows had gone. I came to see the house and it was the size I wanted and it’s what I could afford.

“I said to the estate agent, ‘this is not for me this house, this house is definitely not for me’. The house was an absolute tip, the garden was beautiful, I don’t know what the guy was doing here before. It was just terrible”

Wynne eventually fell in love with the grandeur of the house, saying it had “a lot of original architecture” with the most “amazing” doors and ceilings. But it was an unusual encounter in the garden that he says led him to purchase the property.

He explained: “My mother, for some reason, since I was about seven, and I still can’t quite work this one out, for Christmas every year would get me a Drambuie. And I love Drambuie now as a result.

“I went into the garden, turned round, and there was a line of Drambuie bottles against the wall. And that’s why I bought it.”

Since purchasing the property, Wynne has given the detached period property a complete overhaul. He has decorated each room in his unique style, filling it with items he loves and have meaning to him.

Wynne’s hard work has seen the “sad” property become his dream home. With each room decorated in its own unique way.

Speaking to WalesOnline, he said: “I’ve got quite a strange taste I guess – quite a flamboyant taste. My bedroom I suppose is kind of out there – I've got a picture of John Inman and Mrs Slocombe from the TV show Are You Being Served? in pop art above my bed with a retro neon pink Welsh blanket on the bed and bright yellow walls. It’s very eclectic and very different.”

Wynne will be taking to the dance floor on Strictly Come Dancing this evening alongside Katya Jones. The pair will be performing the tango to Money, Money, Money by Abba.

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