Will Young claimed he felt ‘pressured’ to continue on Strictly Come Dancing after threatening to quit the show due to his severe agoraphobia.
The singer quit in 2016 when he quit the BBC show. In a new interview, he claimed he was warned the network would “never work with him again” if he decided to pull out of the show.
At the time, Will cited “personal reasons” and “fear” as the reason for his departure from the show and that of his partner Karen Hauer after the third week, and he said he had gone to therapy after contemplating suicide after leaving.
However, speaking to Rylan Clark on his BBC podcast How to be in the spotlight, Will says: ‘I tried to get out, but I felt some kind of pressure to do it.’
‘It was like, “Well, if you pull out, the BBC will never work with you again.”‘
Will Young has revealed the REAL reason for his shock departure from Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 as new line-up is announced
Speaking for the first time about his shock exit from the show, the Pop Idol star admitted he had no choice but to leave due to his severe agoraphobia, but that he felt ‘pressured’ to do the show by his team
“That was one of the things that was said to me, so I did it, but I knew I wasn’t good enough.”
MailOnline has contacted representatives of the BBC for comment.
He continued, “You know, when you get flashbacks and all that stuff, for me that was agoraphobia.”
“So agoraphobia was really bad for me. So literally during that whole phase I didn’t even know where I was. ‘I’m on that show. If you ever watch it back, I wasn’t even in the room.’
“People were messaging me like, this is not good, you’re not feeling well. But I was trying to get out of it. I just had such agoraphobic anxiety. I could barely get to the studio to rehearse.”
Will left the show after his Bollywood theme Salsa to Jai Ho, as he explained: ‘Although the Bollywood dance was good. I still watch it sometimes. Because I’m really proud of it.’
‘I was like, “No, no, this isn’t going to work, I’m not doing this anymore.” Literally after that night.’
‘Also, people were pushing for money… I didn’t necessarily have the people behind me at that time who were very supportive.’
Will told Rylan Clark’s How To Be In The Spotlight podcast: ‘It was like, “Well, if you pull out, the BBC will never work with you again.”‘
On Monday, Strictly confirmed its first celebrity for the 2024 series: blind comedian Chris McCausland
JB Gill has been revealed as the second celebrity confirmed for the 2024 series, revealing the news live on This Morning on Monday
On Monday, Strictly confirmed the first two celebrities for this year’s 20th anniversary.
After weeks of speculation, it was announced that blind comedian Chris McCausland and JLS star JB Gill will be joining the show.
CBeebies actor Chris, 46, lost his sight at the age of 22 due to a hereditary condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa.
The comedian said of his next project: ‘If there’s anyone out there who’s thinking, how on earth is he going to do that? – I’m sure I’m thinking exactly the same thing.
‘I don’t dance, I haven’t danced, I can’t dance, I don’t see the dancing I should be doing. What could possibly go wrong? Okay, don’t answer that question…!’
Meanwhile, JB follows in the footsteps of his bandmate Aston Merrygold, who was eliminated in 10th place in 2017.
Elsewhere, Will also spoke candidly about his relationship with his late twin brother, saying she confronted him with the fact that fame had turned him into a “machine.”
Will’s twin brother Rupert committed suicide in 2020 after battling alcoholism for years. But before he died, he told the singer he didn’t understand why he had become so “hard as steel” and “cold.”
Will said: ‘I may have become a little bit too hard-hearted and I remember my late brother saying to me, ‘You’ve become a bit cold,’ because I think I hated it so much.’
“I remember it was so sad. I could have cried because he was crying. He was like, ‘I don’t understand what happened.’
“I think I was so focused in my head. I thought, ‘You’ve got to get through those five years to have a career.’
‘So, all that shit, all that stuff, I think it made me a bit machine-like. I wanted to be a famous singer since I was four. [and then] ‘My first gig was at Wembley.’
Will also spoke candidly about his relationship with his late twin brother when he revealed that she confronted him about the fame that turned him into a ‘machine’
Will said: ‘I may have become a little bit too hard and I remember my late brother saying to me, ‘You’ve become a bit cold’, because I think I was so cut off from it’ (2009 photo)
Will previously spoke of his grief following Rupert’s death and the pain the family felt as they dealt with his alcoholism.
He told BBC Breakfast: ‘I miss my brother, he was my twin and my best friend, but I don’t miss the alcoholic.
‘I think alcoholism is not talked about enough. It is important to tell what it is like to live with someone who has alcoholism in the family and what that can do to a family.
“It was hard, but it’s amazing what we do out of love for people. I just didn’t want my brother to die. Ultimately, I couldn’t keep him alive, and that’s part of my grieving process.”