Will Young Gets Candid About ‘Pressure’ To Remain On Strictly Come Dancing Amid Personal Struggles

"I could barely get to the studio to rehearse.”
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Will Young being interviewed on Rylan's BBC podcast
BBC

Will Young has opened about the pressure he felt to remain on Strictly Come Dancing despite the struggles with his mental health he experienced while competing on the show.

The Evergreen singer took part in the reality dance contest back in 2016 but dropped out after three weeks, citing “personal reasons” at the time.

In the latest episode of Rylan Clark’s BBC podcast How To Be In The Spotlight, the former Pop Idol winner opened up about the reasoning behind his early departure. 

“I tried to pull out of it, but I was sort of pressured to do it. It was sort of like, well, if you pull out, the BBC will never work with you again,” he recalled. 

“That was one of the things that was said to me, so I did it, but I knew I wasn’t well enough.”

Will explained that he was experiencing severe agoraphobia at the time, which was “really bad for me” at that stage.

“I didn’t even know where I was,” he recalled.

“If you ever watch it back, I was not even in the room,” he went on to say. “I had people messaging me going, ‘this isn’t good, you’re not well’. But I tried to get out. I was just so agoraphobic. I could barely get to the studio to rehearse.”

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Will and his Strictly dance partner Karen Hauer
BBC

When asked by Rylan how he knew he could no longer finish competing on Strictly, Will explained that the realisation came after one particular Bollywood-inspired routine.

“Sometimes I still watch that back, because I’m really proud of it,” he shared. “I thought, ‘no, no, this isn’t going to work, I’m not doing this anymore’. Literally after that night.”

The Jealousy singer also spoke about feeling like people put “pressure on for money”, adding: “I didn’t necessarily have the most supportive people behind me at that stage.”

“I was like, ‘I don’t care. I don’t want the money. I don’t care if I lose everything. I’m not doing this anymore’,” he admitted. “So I went straight back in, into treatment again. It was trauma treatment.”

Back in 2022, Will described leaving Strictly as “the best decision” he’s ever made. “I chose my wellbeing over work,” he told The Telegraph.

Meanwhile, Strictly Come Dancing has been embroiled in controversy in recent months as the long-running show currently faces a BBC investigation sparked by complaints made by a number of former competitors.

Help and support:

  • Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
  • Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
  • CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
  • The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
  • Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org