Owain Wyn Evans

Owain Wyn Evans (born 9 March 1984) is a Welsh journalist, broadcaster[1] and award-winning television presenter, currently working for the BBC as a weather presenter for television and radio services in England. He is the senior weather presenter for the flagship nightly news programme North West Tonight and is known for his drumming, social media and LGBTQ work.

Owain Wyn Evans
Evans in 2019
Born
Owain Wyn Evans

(1984-03-09) 9 March 1984
Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales
NationalityWelsh
OccupationJournalist and weather presenter
Years active2003–present
EmployerBBC
Known forBBC North West Tonight
BBC Look North
BBC Cymru Wales
TelevisionBBC North West Tonight
BBC Look North
Inside Out

Career

Television work

Evans began his broadcasting career at the age of 18, when he became the presenter of Welsh language children's news programme Ffeil. He has contributed to an array of programmes in Wales including S4C's Welsh language programmes Stwnsh, Planed Plant, Salon, Uned 5, I'r Eithaf and Wedi 7.[2]

He then worked as a reporter, presenter and video journalist for BBC Wales and in 2012 he began presenting the weather on BBC Wales Today.[3] Evans presented weather forecasts across many BBC nations and regions between 2012 and 2015, including BBC London, BBC Reporting Scotland and BBC Spotlight.[4] In 2015, he joined the weather and news presentation team for BBC Look North.[5] In September 2019, it was announced that Evans would be the new lead weather presenter for BBC North West Tonight.[6]

In April 2020 Evans joined Carol Vorderman on a tour across Wales where he taught her to speak the Welsh language for the S4C TV programme Iaith ar Daith.[7]

Digital broadcasting

Evans has been credited for introducing short-form video forecasts on social media, having first produced these on the video sharing platform Vine in 2013. He has developed these into GIF forecasts and stickers, which are available on most social media platforms.[8]

In 2017 Evans celebrated International Drag Day by giving a drag queen-themed forecast that pays tribute to drag queens and RuPaul's Drag Race.[9][10] In 2019 he worked with BBC Three and RuPaul's Drag Race UK to film an updated version of the forecast, including the names of each contestant in the TV show ahead of the launch.[11]

In 2018 Evans collaborated with Netflix to produce a series of videos celebrating pride events across the UK with Queer Eye's Karamo Brown.[12]

Radio presenting

In 2012 Evans became a traffic and weather presenter for BBC Radio Cymru.[13] Evans has presented a number of radio programmes for BBC Local Radio stations across England. [14][15]

In the spring of 2017 it was announced that Evans would front his own show on BBC Radio York.[16]

Evans regularly co-presents alongside Carol Vorderman on BBC Radio Wales.[17] In 2020 he began presenting alongside Helen Skelton on BBC Radio 5 Live. [18]

Drumming

Evans is a semi-professional drummer. [19] In April 2020, Evans produced a video of himself drumming the BBC News theme after presenting a weather forecast. The video went viral, and featured on news outlets across the world.[20][21]

As a result of the video, Evans has appeared on a series of BBC programmes and re-recorded their theme tunes including The One Show, BBC Breakfast and Steve Wright in the Afternoon on BBC Radio 2.[22] [23]

The local radio and television project Owain's Big House Band saw Evans joined by hundreds of other musicians who played along to the original video from their own homes during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.[24]

Awards and accolades

In July 2019 Evans was awarded Best TV Presenter at the O2 Media Awards for Yorkshire and Humber.[25]

He has featured on the WalesOnline 'Pinc List' of the most influential LGBTQ people people from Wales on numerous occasions.[26][27][28][29]

Personal life

Evans has spoken out about homophobic abuse received on Twitter for his presenting style[30] and continues to be vocal in his support the LGBTQ community.

In March 2017 Evans married his long-term partner Arran Rees in London.[31] In his leisure time Evans enjoys drumming.[32]

References
  1. "Owain Wyn Evans (@owainwynevans) • Instagram photos and videos". instagram.com. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  2. http://www.welshstars.co.uk/owain-wyn-evans
  3. "Owain Wyn Evans, Elite Celebrity Management". Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  4. "BBC North West Tonight reveal new weather presenter is Owain Wyn Evans". ilovemanchester. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. "We've Met Yorkshire's Favourite Weatherman Owain Wyn Evans". Leeds City Magazine. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  6. "Owain Wyn Evans is BBC North West Tonight's new weather presenter". BBC News. 2 September 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  7. "Carol Vorderman returns to her North Wales roots - and she's doing it all in Welsh". Daily Post. 19 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  8. "#GIForecast and selfie-style updates: reporting weather with mobile journalism". Journalism. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  9. "WATCH: BBC weatherman gives drag queen-themed forecast to celebrate International Drag Day". Gay Star News. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  10. Jasmin Gray (17 July 2017). "BBC Weatherman Owain Wyn Evans Goes Viral With 'Amazing' Drag-Themed Forecast". HuffPost. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  11. Adam Maidment (24 August 2019). "RuPaul's Drag Race UK: The queens bring glam to the Manchester Pride parade". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  12. Magdalene Dalziel (13 July 2018). "Watch as Queer Eye predicts the weather for Glasgow Pride Weekend". Glasgow Live. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  13. "Owain Wyn Evans, Elite Celebrity Management". Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  14. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07497tt
  15. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05zhm1y
  16. "TV host Owain Wyn Evans joins BBC Radio York". Radio Today UK. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  17. Lauren Meechan (16 July 2019). "Carol Vorderman: 'You show me up' Countdown legend tells radio co-star in on-air moment". Express. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  18. "Syndod Owain Wyn Evans am ei fideo drymio feiral". BBC Cymru Fyw. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  19. "Steve Wright's Radio 2 theme gets drumming weatherman Owain's version". On The Radio. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  20. "BBC weatherman rocks news show's theme on drums". Gay Star News. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  21. "Weather presenter goes viral drumming to BBC News theme". BBC News. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  22. "Steve Wright's Radio 2 theme gets drumming weatherman Owain's version". On The Radio. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  23. https://twitter.com/BBCTheOneShow/status/1258458047527170049?s=20
  24. "Owain Wyn Evans is joined by hundreds to form Big House Band and play BBC News theme". Radio Times. 23 April 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  25. "'Inspirational' reporter wins O2 special award". O2 The Blue. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  26. Kathryn Williams (22 April 2020). "Who is BBC weatherman Owain Wyn Evans?". WalesOnline. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  27. Hannah Jones (15 August 2015). "The Pinc List 2015: The 40 most influential LGBT people in Wales". Wales Online. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  28. "The Pinc List 2017: The 40 most influential LGBT people in Wales". Wales Online. 19 August 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  29. Ruth Mosalski (18 August 2018). "The Pinc List 2018: The 40 most influential LGBT+ people in Wales". Wales Online. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  30. Loulla-Mae Eleftheriou-Smith (29 December 2014). "BBC Wales weatherman Owain Wyn Evans says he receives homophobic online abuse for his presenting style". Independent. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  31. Kathryn Williams (13 March 2017). "Popular weatherman Owain Wyn Evans ties the knot with long-term partner". Wales Online. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  32. https://twitter.com/i/status/1250319769678409735
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