The clock strikes 8.35am on a cold and gloomy Saturday in November and a cannon of glitter and confetti is set off at the dock10 studios in MediaCity, Salford.
With crowds cheering, an ecstatic but emotionally-drained Owain Wyn Evans emerges from behind his drum kit with tears already welling up in his eyes.
Having just completed a grueling 24-hour ‘drumathon’ challenge for Children in Need, the BBC weatherman is absolutely taken aback by the response.
"I can't believe that we've done it, you know," he told BBC Breakfast as soon as he finished.
"It just felt like a really long time and it's been really hard.”
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Within 48 hours, Owain’s challenge had raised more than £3 million for the charity and the numbers are still continuing to rise.
The drumathon marked a loud and extravagant pinnacle in Owain's TV career - something that happened by pure accident.
Having started out studying lighting design at college, Owain decided to leave college in an attempt to pursue his passion of percussion drumming.
But in an effort to earn money, he ended up landing a role on BBC Wales’ children’s news programme Ffeil at the age of 18.
“I was invited to do a screen test and I honestly had no clue what a screen test was,” Owain, 37, recalled of that time in his life to the M.E.N earlier this year.
Having moved into weather presenting after studying meteorology with the Open University, he landed a role at BBC Wales Today in 2012.
Just three years later he moved to Leeds to join BBC Look North before moving to Manchester in 2019 when he became a weather presenter for BBC North West Tonight - the role he has today.
Since appearing on our screens, Owain, originally from the ex-mining town of Ammanford in Wales, has become popular with viewers for his 'unapologetically flamboyant' and charming personality.
“What I love about my job is that I am able to be myself on screen,” Owain said.
“I don’t go out there deliberately to be unashamedly queer but I also don’t ever feel the need to hold back now either.
“I do get the odd occasional homophobic messages from people for that but I don’t think you can’t really escape those elements of society.”
In 2020, a series of videos of Owain drumming went viral online. Popular during the lockdown, Owain says he was 'inundated' with messages from people telling him how it had helped them through a difficult time.
He says it's something he's had again since his 'drumathon' challenge for Children In Need.
Speaking to the M.E.N now, Owain said: “When I did the viral drumming weatherman video last year, it was a scary time and a lot of people told me it made them smile.
"People have said how it brought them a lot of joy during that period of uncertainty.
“I think it’s been quite a similar situation this time round with the drumathon.
“The response has been out of this world - I could not have possibly imagined it to do what it did.”
Owain, who married his partner Arran Rees in 2017, said the idea for the drumathon came about when thinking of a way to evolve his 'drumming weatherman' videos.
“It all came from a little idea of mine to do some kind of drum challenge,” Owain explains.
“Then it escalated from that initial idea when Children In Need and BBC Breakfast started talking to me about it and the possibility of doing it as a 24-hour challenge.
“You can’t really prepare for that - it’s not something that human beings do.”
Owain fully accepts the fact that he is not a professional drummer - he says it's just a passion of his that he’s had from an early age.
But for the challenge, Owain was enlisted with support from a bunch of professionals.
“Getting to the standard that I needed to be at to undertake the challenge was a lot more work than I initially thought it would involve,” he explains.
“But I had some great people, like Professor Greg White, Marcus Smith and Mark Richardson from Skunk Anansie, helping me prepare for what effect it would have on me.”
But nothing, he says, could prepare him for the challenge itself and the emotional toll it would have.
“I remember walking into the BBC Breakfast studio and just having this look about me where I didn’t think I could do it,” he explains.
“I had only had two hours of sleep beforehand because I was so nervous. I sat behind my drums and I just thought ‘I’m going to burn my drum kit after all of this’ but you know what, being there and being with all those amazing drummers totally reignited my love for it.
“It stepped it up to another level for me - it’s given me a new respect towards drumming and towards drummers.”
In fact, Owain’s ‘drumathon’ challenge now holds the record for Children In Need’s most successful 24-hour challenge ever.
“It’s unbelievable,” Owain says.
“It’s not a title I thought I’d have to be completely honest. I was just so honoured that they liked the idea and that it turned out to be such a success. I couldn’t believe it.”
He says he hopes the challenge will inspire others that drumming can be for anyone.
He says: “A lot of the time, drummers are at the back of the stage but they’re the stars in my mind - this was a chance for me to bring the drummers to the front.
“I’ve spoken to so many people who think drumming is exclusive to certain people - the big, burly man - but I wanted this drumathon to start with Celine Dion and end with Britney Spears for a reason.
“Drums exist in every song and I wanted to showcase that.”
Earlier this week, Owain was surprised on air and handed the ‘Special Recognition Award’ by the High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, Magistrate Diane Hawkins.
Owain was given the prestigious award for his record-breaking ‘drumathon’ and also his work supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
“That was a real moment for me,” Owain recalls.
“It was such a surprise - I saw Diane in the studio and I just didn’t twig.
“I wasn’t expecting it and I was very humbled by it. It was a really hard challenge but to be recognised for the contribution to charity and for my work as a patron for the LGBT Foundation was just amazing.”
Owain, who has also featured on WalesOnline’s 'Pinc List' of the most influential LGBTQ+ people from Wales, says it’s been a brilliant year for him - despite the obvious challenges.
Over the festive period, Owain has been hosting a series of shows on BBC Radio 2. and he promises there are more surprises in store for next year.
He explains: “This year has been better than I could possibly imagine in many ways despite the fact that day-to-day life is weird and scary for a lot of people.
“There are some really exciting things coming up next year - none of which I can talk about just quite yet!
“But I can absolutely tell you that there will be more flamboyant suits, more over the top drumming and a little sprinkling of sparkle wherever appropriate!”
