Go compare man reveals tremendous weight loss

Welsh opera singer and broadcaster Wynne Evans, best known for his role as tenor Gio Compario in the Go.Compare commercials, has reflected on his struggles with anxiety and depression after recently losing more than five kilos, revealing he is in thought about suicide in his darkest days.

Wynne, 51, who lives in Cardiff, explained that after his marriage broke up in 2016, he was “the saddest thing he’d ever been in (his) life”.

He said he was “going through the worst of depression” and was considering taking his own life, but given his successful singing career and his “upbeat” BBC radio show in Wales – where it aims to “cheer up the nation”, he felt “had to wear a mask in public to show everything was fine”.

Additionally, Wynne said he’s struggled with his weight since childhood, weighing 150 kilos (23.6 stone) at his heaviest point – and at one point he said he had to “watch what chair (he) would sit, just for that.” In case (he) breaks the chair,” he described as “embarrassing.”

However, after Wynne started his health journey in September last year and has lost 85 pounds (5.5 stone) so far and opened up about his mental health struggles, he said he feels “alive again” and wants to convey the message that people never ” to be ashamed of everything”.

“You can only do it when you’re ready, when you know you can do it,” Wynne said.

“Life is about doing the work yourself. You work on your mental or physical health, and then you get a little bit of luck — that luck could be an opportunity, like the Go.Compare job was for me, or it could be the spark that makes you lose weight or become healthier.

“If you put in the work, then you’re ready to walk with it… So, my message is, talk to people, get involved, take action, and don’t be ashamed of anything — whether you’re feeling down, or fat, or thin, or so. There is no right or wrong, just don’t be ashamed.”

Wynne was born in Carmarthen and led a “normal life” with his mother working as a hairdresser and his father working as a carpenter.

That soon changed, however, when his mother, Elizabeth Evans, became involved in amateur theater at a local youth club – later saving the Lyric Theater in Carmarthen from demolition, which was made into a film entitled Save The Cinema – and Wynne “got the.” error” itself.

Wynne explained that he was “always in the theatre” and so he decided to become an opera singer, studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio in London before studying at the Royal Opera House (ROH), Opera, worked de Lyon and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Wynne, who has two children, Ismay, 21, and Taliesin, 18, has sung around the world – his favorite performance was a Russian opera, Cherevichki.

While working at ROH, Wynne said he was asked to go to an audition for a Go.Compare commercial – formerly GoCompare – to help out a friend and this catapulted him as Gio Compario, “the Go.Compare- man”, into the limelight.

However, despite his rising success and the character’s popularity with younger audiences, many “hated” the commercial.

“I was in people’s homes 24/7 and, to be honest, people were annoyed by the ads and I was devastated,” Wynne explained.

“There was even an ‘I hate Wynne Evans the Go. Compare’ man page that had 2 million likes.”

Years later in 2016, after branching out on radio and television, Wynne said his “marriage fell apart” and he fell into “the worst depression.”

Given that both parents were deceased by the time, Wynne said he had “nobody there”; he felt abandoned and began to develop suicidal thoughts.

Because food was always a source of comfort for Wynne during times of stress or difficulty, “food became second nature” to Wynne, and he reached his heaviest weight of 150 kilos (23.6 stone) after splitting from his now ex had. Wife.

Reaching that weight meant he had to find specific retailers who sold his clothing size – 5XL – and he even worried about chairs breaking under him, but at the time he was doing his best to keep his anxiety and depression at bay to hide from the world.

“I did a daily radio show that’s upbeat and keeps people happy and cheers up the nation,” he said.

“My show’s slogan is ‘cheer up Wales by one o’clock’ but I was going through the worst of depression, clinical depression.

“I would think about (suicide), I would try to do it… I couldn’t see a way out; I couldn’t think of a way I would ever be happy again.”

However, on an Easter Sunday, Wynne said things were coming to a head and he knew he needed help and he “started trying to put[his]life back in order”.

He continued: “I was having suicidal thoughts and it was horrible.

“I just figured I’m either going to do something terrible or I need to go to a proper psychiatrist.”

Wynne saw a psychiatrist and was prescribed pills for his anxiety and depression and said he felt “a lot better almost immediately”.

He thinks it’s “really important” to talk about mental health because there’s no point in “pretending everything’s fine.”

Looking back now, he feels that “depression and anxiety are[his]superpowers” as they made him “a better singer, a better entertainer, and a better person.”

“I had bad anxiety and stage fright, and I think that actually made me a much better person,” Wynne said.

“I’m much kinder, much more patient, I try to live every day to the fullest and really enjoy it.

“I started rebuilding my life and that’s where I am today – I do a show every day, I have my own TV series in Wales and it’s great.

“If I could freeze life and move on as it is now, I would.”

While Wynne addressed his mental health struggles, he knew his lifestyle and diet also needed changes – so he started his fitness and weight loss journey in September last year after a camping trip with some friends.

Wynne said he “can’t do the hikes,” he has “difficulty washing in the shower,” and realized “this has to stop.”

The father-of-two bought a Peloton bike and treadmill and started running every day — an activity that has improved his mental health — and he’s also adjusted his diet and calorie intake, cutting out cheese, one of his favorite foods, away from carbs .

He said he’s “still not tiny” but has lost 35 kilos (5.5 stone) so far, including 10 inches from his waist, and feels “amazing”.

He said he would continue to work on his health and fitness “to see what happens” and encourage others to make changes “at the right time for (them)”.

Wynne, who was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Platinum Jubilee Honors List, also has ambitions to do more television work, bring his radio show to a larger national audience like Radio 2, and “try to spread good feelings among… People”. He’s even rumored to be making an appearance on Celebrity MasterChef.

“I feel great; I can dress smarter, I can be smarter,” Wynne said.

“I mean when you’re happy to be a bigger person, that’s great, that’s awesome, but for me, I feel so much better.

“I feel alive again and I feel like I can do anything now.”

He added, “You can always find the wrong time to start, but it has to be the right time for you.”