Wynne Evans has sparked some backlash after falsely announcing he had become a father again, along with an AI-generated photo of him holding newborn twins.
The Go Compare advert star, 54, has found himself shrouded in controversy lately after he was axed from his BBC Radio show last year due to a series of minor scandals he was involved in during his time on BBC's Strictly Come Dancing in 2024.
Mr Evans took to social media this week with the photo, writing in the caption: "Great to have these two little guys in my life. Born this morning #prouddaddy." (sic)
Initially, fans flooded the post with congratulatory comments, believing the father of two had become a dad once again.
However, it later emerged the post had been a joke. Speaking on his podcast, The Wynne Evans Show, the opera singer claimed he was "pregnant."
"For those of you who are new to the show, let me tell you what's happening," he stated.
He continued: "Basically, about nine months ago, I wasn't feeling brilliant. I had a bit of sickness, all of that.
"I typed the symptoms into AI and AI said, 'I think you're pregnant.'
Many Wynne Evans fans believed the baby announcement had been true
|"So there we go, I then became the first man, biologically a man, to have a baby.
"Yes, I was born a man, I'm still a man, and I'm pregnant. I am nine months pregnant, and this baby is hanging on in there, that's for sure. It could come any time today, so wish me luck with that one.
"They say why does Wynne have mental health problems. It's because I am a man and I'm pregnant, that's why."
Not everyone found the joke funny, though, with some taking to the comments to slam Mr Evans' false announcement.
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Wynne Evans starred in Strictly Come Dancing in 2024
| BBCIn one lengthy comment, an Instagram follower penned: "How is a pretend birth announcement to the world meant to be funny? Don't think this is a sense of humour failure on my part. Births are a matter of public record in the UK so stories like this can eventually be fact-checked.
"The effect of posting stuff like this that isn't true is to further undermine trust in public discourse.
"That's without thinking about anybody experiencing infertility or who otherwise wants to be a parent and can't - good jokes shouldn't be exploiting these kinds of difficult circumstances. It's also weird to be posting about giving birth to twins as a cis gender man without reference to the birthing parent - how is that erasure funny?
"I think you would be well advised to keep your in-jokes for semi-private places where they might make sense, not places where they'll come to the attention of other people where they land as weird and unkind and very much not funny."
Wynne Evans was booted off the Strictly live tour for comment towards Janette Manrara (middle) | GETTYDefending Mr Evans, someone else responded: "The joke was a radio joke that’s been running for a few months. It was a simple joke about Wynne that's all."
"Is this AI, to try and fool the newspapers? Everything online makes me skeptical now," someone else asked.
"People are actually convinced by this... it's so obviously AI, wedding rings on both hands, and both babies looking exactly the same," another pointed out.
Another complained: "AI generated weird joke," to which another follower replied: "If it is it’s just not funny."