Wynne Evans Strictly sexism row still has these unanswered questions

Hmm. Exactly what is going on with the meltdown? Is there something we’re not being told?

I only ask because of the strange discrepancy between this week’s salami-slicing of the Welsh tenor’s career (not a shred left of it now) and the fulsome public support he continues to receive from the women who work alongside him on the roadshow.

To recap: Evans’s jolly, popular profile took a serious turn south in last year’s Strictly TV series. After a promising few shows where he seemed to be establishing himself as the nation’s favourite, millions watching the live show saw Evans fondling his professional dance partner midriff, and her subtly but firmly removing his slowly wandering hand. Ouch. On the same programme, his attempt to give her a “high five” was almost brutally rebuffed.

It was all a private joke that went wrong, the couple later claimed – although they never explained exactly what the “joke” was, still less what the punchline might have been. That was enough for many, including me, but others – such as my terminally suspicious husband – weren’t buying it. “Nah, it was a grope all right,” he commented. “They’re just desperate to stay in the competition.”

Evans lost the vote a fortnight later, and any lingering argument over “Grope Compare” (the online jibe based on the singer’s Go Compare adverts) evaporated when the scandal broke, and commentary moved on to the TV chef.

Until this week when Evans was caught on camera making the crudest of sexual remarks about former Strictly pro dancer, , and seemingly in her hearing. If he’d been given a chance of redemption this time, Evans appears to have wasted it.

And yet, and yet…Manrara has yet to make any comment, let alone a critical one. And after he was dropped from the roadshow, Katya posted on : “Let’s show humanity and consideration. I will miss you my darling boy.”

Meanwhile Strictly head judge showered affection on Evans, telling roadshow audiences: “Wynne has got the nicest cuddles… I just love him so much. He’s the nicest man I think I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

Evans is off the Strictly tour; he’s off his morning show on Welsh radio; he’s reported to be about to lose his lucrative Go Compare deal and his girlfriend has dumped him.

Many see him as a leering groper with a dirty mouth. But many women close to him seemingly adore him. Can anyone square that circle?

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Great. Just when you were glad to see the back of January, along comes a nice little downer to drag you back down again. This week, scientists announced that humanity is now closer to world annihilation than it’s ever been.

Yup. The so-called now stands at 89 seconds to midnight (midnight representing armageddon), a second closer than this time last year. It’s the nearest to midnight it’s ever been since a bunch of eggheads started it ticking 78 years ago.

Climate change, artificial intelligence, crises in the Middle East and , and a looming bird-flu pandemic are all blamed. So exactly what are WE supposed to do about it, eh?

Bah. I refuse to be wound up.

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The apple certainly didn’t fall far from the tree as far as Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis’s daughter is concerned, did it? Videos of her at Chanel’s Paris Fashion Week show were extraordinary. Her lovely face flickered like a candle between the likeness of her father, then her mother, then back to her father again.

It was a regular joust of the genes, both sets vying for the upper hand. Of course Lily-Rose is increasingly a star in her own right, gaining rave reviews for her performance in Nosferatu, the hit gothic horror movie. But there was nothing gothic about her in Paris this week. More angelic.