I am Wynne Evans, a Welsh tenor and BBC radio presenter. Also known as "Gio Compario", the star of the Gocompare.com adverts. AMA!

What would you rather fight:

1 BRIAN the Robot sized Meerkat, or 100 Meerkat sized BRIAN the Robots?

who? I've never heard of these people ;-)

Answer the damn question Wynne, these are the type of things that will actually make me want to insure my shit with you

Ok. I'll answer. Either of them because they're fictitious and I'm real so I think I could have either, but I'd rather go for one Brian.....a hundred would be mental

Do you ever get abuse in the street? I have nothing against you personally, but I found the adverts incredibly annoying after a while, I can imagine a few people taking it out on you.

Oh you old charmer! no people always say on twitter and stuff 'If I ever meet you I'll blah blah blah' but the reality is most people say 'can I have a selfie' or 'can you sing the song to me?'

The most popular question people want to ask when they meet me is 'do you get free insurance' , and the answer is , sadly not.

Glad to hear it, can you sing a song to me?

What do you fancy?

'Somebody to love' by Queen, you glorious man.

http://vine.co/v/eHY2xe3tJFK have a look

I'm sorry I missed your AMA, that was brilliant though.

Thanks that's very kind of you

Sut mae'r Gymraeg yn datblygu? Roedd y safon yn dda ar C@I, wastad yn bleser clywed yr iaith yn cael ei siarad gan siaradwyr newydd. Dal ati!

ah Diolch, Dwi'n dwli i siarad Cymraeg, ar mae wedi gwerthfawrogi fy mywed. Diolch o Galon

Diolch am drio

Croeso

Gaosndbdkd shsisbdw shckdle baysndh? Tajskdl psllsb bsuskwl!

Haha

Do you ever burst into opera when reaching orgasm?

I've never really felt the need or thought about it to be honest.

I'll be sure to try it next time though, thanks for the tip and Mrs Evans says thanks as well, although the neighbours may not thank you for the noise.

That bit from Nessun Dorma would be perfect.

http://youtu.be/QuMT6xAnHlI I'll leave the rest to your imagination.

Beautiful. This bit is the part I meant (would you call that the crescendo?). I'd imagine it'd be a bit weird for the choir though.

Haha. Brilliant

Do you ever burst into orgasm when reaching opera?

Haha. Not but I'll give that a whirl as well at some point.

Would you rather fight one GoCompare Man sized Meerkat, or 100 Meerkat sized GoCompare men?

I reckon I could take on the GoCompare man, although I've heard he's a beast! Apparently there's special powers in the tache

Hi Wynne, I sung the part of Enjolras alongside your Javert when we did 'One Day More' in St. David's Hall last year. He's one of the roles I'd love to play in a musical, but what is your dream role?

Ah yes I remember!

I've only really done one musical on the professional stage and that was the 25th anniversary performance of Phantom Of The Opera, I found the schedule really hard work, so I think I'll stick to opera from now on.

On the opera stage I really like the comedy roles, so more of those, fledermaus, Vixen and Ariadne. I'm singing Ariadne as my next piece at the Royal Opera in October.

Keep singing

Thanks Wynne, good luck with Ariadne auf Naxos!

Ta

What do you think of that Tripadvisor 'BOOK' dog? I always used to find the adverts with you in a tad grating but that dog is something else, they must have spent years trying to find a way to make a sound that horrible

A tad grating ? You know the way to a mans heart. I've not seen the trip adviser ad, to be honest I don't watch that much TV. Sorry

What is your method for curing a sore throat?

It's a difficult one, there is no fast way to cure a sore throat, sadly. Loads of people say different things from honey, lemon to bucket loads of whiskey (which sounds good to me) but the best way for me is steaming and gargle with salt water. if that doesn't work, go back to the whiskey and you'll forget you had a sore throat in the first place.

My choir master reckons port is the best bet. Do you concur?

Alcohol dries out the vocal chords so it's not a good idea. Steam is the best

Has the advert campaign helped or hurt your career? Do you regret or relish the attention it has brought?

Yeah it's helped me loads! I'm answering this question whilst sat on the set of a new BBC comedy series, which I wouldn't be in had it not been for the ads. It's allowed me to diversify quite a lot, which has kept me sane!

I got a record deal because I was in the ad and I'm sure my radio shows are as a result of my heightened profile, which is because I'm in the ads. It is without doubt the best job I've ever had

I like your big comeback in the Go Compare ad - did you insist it would have to be that triumphant before you'd agree to return?

I was always going to be coming back and I think any comeback would have to be massive, but I didn't expect it to be this big!

It's been huge, with a 90 second ad, a full orchestra, a big radio campaign and the posters all over the UK. It's been fantastic, and the reaction to it has been brilliant.

I'm currently staying next door to BBC Wales at the management centre in Bangor. I have no idea how to phrase this as a question.

How do you deal with the crummy Welsh weather?

it's gorgeous here isn't it? It's all part of being welsh....I was actually 8 before I realised you could take a rain coat off. Be sure to tune into my BBC Radio Wales show on Friday from 1, text me 81012 and I'll give you a shout out

Unfortunately I'll be home in Leeds on Friday. I'll see what I can do.

Tune in online ;-})

Did you know you're a card in Cards Against Humanity?

Yes! How exciting is that. I've bought the game but we e not had a chance to play it yet! We will though.

Who'd you rather have as a sidekick, the Money Super Market Meerkat, or the Confused. com Robot?

I work alone.....more money for me. I'd love to have a night out with that shake and Vac babe and Barry Scott....I think it could messy

What is your favorite vocal piece to sing and why?

I love singing the Lanza songs like Be My Love, Because You're Mine and others like that they seem to sit well in my voice...I hope.

Hardest thing I've ever sung was the role of the Duke in Rigoletto

What's the hardest part of the Duke's role for you? As an amateur, I feel like anyone doing "Bella figlia dell'amore" just has to feel like a fish out of water with that vocal line for the Duke that seems to never come down from its high notes, and it's late in the opera when the singers are already quite tired.

It's just as you say , really really high a the time and almost hurts me to sing. Just when you're exhausted by the last act Verdi throws in the quartet and la Donna e mobile

Never will I sing it ever ever again

I'm in need of some car insurance, do you have any advice on what to do?

Let me think about this one.......Why don't you try clears throat 'GOCOMPARE'

I am actually singing as I type that.

Why did you become an opera singer in the first place ? What/who inspired you ?

Money? no to be serious, my parents run a theatre so I saw a load of theatre when I was little. I loved classical music, and singing so I thought I'd put the two together. I actually went to become an opera singer without actually singing an opera....stupid or what. When I was little though my parent had the record 'Mario Lanza at Christmas' so I used to listen to that over and over again, even in July

What do you think of Wales hopes in the European championships ?

I think they're really really good, If Wales win then I think we should change the name of the country to Bales.

When I was having photos taken for the new GoCompare ad I had the same photographer as took the new new Bale pictures for the new Adidas campaign and I have to be honest I got very excited

I took my 11 year old son, Tal, to the last game against Belgium and the atmosphere was unbelievable, I'll defo go to the finals next year.

I saw you a couple of years ago at the De Montfort Hall Centenary!

As such a talented singer, what made you decide to become one of the nations most hated characters? (sorry)

It's alright.....you're not the first to say that and I doubt you'll be the last.

I just loved the creative, I loved the song, the character and I love the people that work at GoCompare, it was a tiny company when I started back with them in 2009, so I've grown with them.

I'm the kind of person who gets bored very quickly so it's been fantastic to diversify.

......that and the money ;-})

What is best joke you know?

A talking Meerkat and a Robot with a name.....that's ridiculous isn't it?

Tell me this and tell me no more - the people that sing in the big opera choruses - are they only there as a stepping stone to getting solo roles themselves, or are they steadfast chorus members for life?

I'm asking, because it's my dream to have a career as a professional choral singer, I've little interest in solo work, and I'm wondering what the story is with working in an opera chorus.

Cheers.

They are career choristers. Really difficult job to do what they do and fabulous singer.

Although some use it as a stepping stone while their voice matures but in the big houses they're mainly there for the long haul.

Good luck

I loved the Phantom 25th anniversary show at the Royal Albert Hall, and you were great in it. How did that come about, and do you have any memories to share of the shows?

I got a phone call from Cameron Mcentosh office out of the blue. Then I had to go to andrew Lloyd webers house and he offered me the job.

Really hard work though.

How many rooms does your house have?

What car do you have?

Have you actually used the website yourself?

Do you have any children? If so what do they think about the adverts, do they gesticulate wildly at the tv yelling 'IT'S DAD!'?

I like these, loads of questions in one.....brilliant.

Ok how many rooms does my house have first - we bought the house in our area we'd always fancied about two years ago and since then it's been a labour of love renovating it. We bought it really cheaply because it was so run down. We had to replace everything from new walls to new floorboards. It's been a brilliant project. But to answer your question.....It's got 5 bedrooms

Next to the question of the car - I've just got a new car, I don't really know much about cars but I like having different cars as often as I can. At the moment I think I'm having a midlife crisis because I've got a 2 seater, Mercedes SLK .....don't really know much about other than it has red seats

Course I use the website, it's brilliant. I was actually using the website before I came to work for GoCompare.com

Yep I've got two kids my daughter Ismay is 13 and my son Taliesin is 11. They've always grown up with me on TV or in the theatre so they don't really bat an eyelid. They're really pleased to see Gio return, cause they think he's a fun character

Is the tash real?

I wish it was! A reporter once asked me that and I said 'no it's stuck on' to which she replied 'and how long does it take to get into the fat suit' to which I had to reply 'no love that is real'

The tache is yaks hair and is stuck on with really strong glue......and it falls off all the time

Have you ever sang in my favourite Opera, Purcell's 'Dido and Aeneas'?

And also, what is your favourite Opera?

Never sung dido, I was in a double bill with it once but never sung it.

My favourite opera is Cunning Little Vixen. I just love the score and I love the story, and most importantly ......IT'S. SHORT!

So, what was it like being sucked into a black hole?

Awesome, if a little painful around the groin when wearing the harness! Ouch.

Why did you choose a spanish name?

I think it's supposed to be Italian .......is my accent that bad! Italian opera singer ....etc

Has there ever been a point where even you've sat back and thought 'this is too much'?

Not really

Right at the start I thought 'why are people reacting like this to an advert' but social networking can open you up to people who feel brave behind a Twitter account.

No one has ever ever Ben nasty to my face, this new campaign is the biggest and best yet so I'm really really exciting

Honestly it is awesome being the GoCompare man. What's not to love ?

Outside where I lived a Go Compare poster was stuck up which had grafitti all over it. As I've seen a ton of other posters out the similarly defaced, was this part of the ad campaign, or do people really hate the GC man that much?

It was part of the 2012 campaign when sue Barker Bazookered me!

It was meant to be a wink in the direction of saying 'we know you might find Gio annoying, but that's the point'

But now we're back to the original campaign where everyone, including you, just love me !

How does it feel to be the star of the most annoying advertisement?

ever sang opera in welsh?

whats it like as a welsh person, to be at least partly responsible for the scouse accent?

I'm not annoying where did you hear that......I'm just loved aren't I? ;-})

I've never sung an opera in welsh although I've sung loads in Welsh and it's a great language to sing in.

The Welsh responsible for the accusers accent? I think they did that all by themselves......and lovely it is too x

Hi Wynne! If you know an apprentice at Radio Wales called Tyler Allen; say hi to him for me. I'm his counterpart at Radio Cornwall.

My question; what's it like being a presenter for you personally? How'd you manage to get into the role?

I'm aiming to be one when I'm older than I am now at Nineteen, so it's nice to ask people how they got into it.

Thanks!

I got into radio though getting better known and being asked to do a one off show

I'm so glad I do radio, it's the best medium of all of them and I totally love love love it.

It's so instant and you get to interact with people every show! Wonderful

Keep at it !

Wynne any plans to perform at the RWC? I learnt Calon Lan thanks to your video.

I wish I was but sadly not. I'll be watching and cheering on the welsh team though at all their games this will keep you going for the time being https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayAxm6KA2rw

Wynne! Ydw i yn siarag Cymraeg?

Dwi'n trio I siarad pob dydd

What do you think of the new go compare ad campaign? I personally preferred the old one

I think it's the biggest and best yet, the reaction has been fab

How can I save on my car insurance?

By using GoCompare .com :-})

Hey Wynne! Big fan of your earlier work. How does it feel to transition into being the biggest outcast in the Opera community after losing that weight? To be the most phony among your peers?

Feels good mate, who needs the respect of you peers! ;-)

To be honest I did lose weight , but sadly, I have never had the need to use a fat suit, I'd love to be in the position, but my gut has different ideas.

Haha great answer. Did losing weight affect your voice at all? I assume it has something to do with it seeing as there aren't really any thin opera singers.

no it doesn't make any difference. I think the thing is, opera used to be less of a visual thing, so we could get away with being big fatties.

I think having lost a bit of weight (still loads to go!) I do feel better, and voice feel ok!

if the voice goes downhill rapidly I'll be straight back on the intravenous Haribos