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Privacy Notice Singer Will Young has opened up about his decision to leave Strictly Come Dancing, revealing that he was battling severe agoraphobia at the time. The star said he felt “pressured” by his team to continue despite wanting to quit. The Pop Idol winner participated in the popular BBC show in 2016 but left after just three weeks due to personal reasons. At the time, the 45 year old singer expressed his joy at being part of one of Britain’s most beloved TV shows. In a candid chat with Rylan Clark on his BBC podcast How To Be In The Spotlight, Young shared: “I tried to pull out of it, but I was sort of pressured to do it.”
Will Young appeared on Rylan Clark’s podcast to discuss his Strictly Come Dancing experience
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He added that he was told: “It was sort of like ‘Well, if you pull out, the BBC will never work with you again’. “That was one of the things that was said to me, so I did it, but I knew I wasn’t well enough.” Will admitted that he wasn’t well enough to participate and said: “You know, when you’re getting flashbacks and all those kind of things, for me, it was agoraphobia.”, reports the Mirror. He further explained how his agoraphobia was so severe that he often didn’t know where he was while on the show. “I’m on that show. If you ever watch it back, I was not even in the room.” He also revealed that people were messaging him expressing concern for his well-being. Despite trying to leave the show, his agoraphobia made it difficult for him to even get to the studio for rehearsals. Will, who was paired with professional dancer Karen Clifton on the show, confessed that after his Bollywood performance, he knew he had to leave the show. The singer shared: “Even though the Bollywood dance was good. Sometimes I still watch that back because I’m really proud of it.”
‘If you ever watch it back, I was not even in the room,’ recalled Will
(Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
He continued, expressing frustration: “I thought ‘No, no, this isn’t going to work, I’m not doing this anymore’. Literally after that night.” Reflecting on early challenges, he revealed: “Also, people put pressure on for money… I didn’t necessarily have the most supportive people behind me at that stage.” OK! has contacted Strictly representatives for a comment. Achieving remarkable success, Will has topped the UK charts with four number one singles and as many albums since winning Pop Idol in its first series way back in 2002. Talking about his experiences with being true to himself, he remembered refusing to not say he was gay while on Pop Idol. He said: “I was told not to say anything… I just told them I wasn’t going to do that. I didn’t go through that process to sit and then lie, and no one ever asked me.” He amusingly added recalling an advice he got: “This is really funny and I’d forgotten about this. So they said don’t (be gay). “So I got quivery lip and said I didn’t come out and go through all those years being terrified of it, to be kicked back in the f****** closet. So basically told them to f*** off.”
Will Young has enjoyed a successful music career since he won Pop Idol in 2002
(Image: 2002 Getty Images)
During a press conference for Pop Idol, when asked who he would like to date, he cleverly responded: “Which was kind of genius. Everyone in the room knew I was gay, and I thought, oh, f*** them, so I’ll just say this,” choosing to say he would like “tea with the Queen”. Opening up about his entry into Pop Idol, Will mentioned how he decided to give it a shot after spotting an advert that queried: “Do you want to be a star?” He continued: “I said to my friend who is now quite a well-known actor ‘I’m going to win it’ because I just knew I had to get to TV because I was like ‘Who would sign an openly gay, posh, politics student? No one’. He didn’t even write his own songs.” “So I thought ‘I just need to get in front of an audience. I just needed to get away from the key holders to the public, and then I thought, and they’ll see it.”Story SavedYou can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnWill YoungStrictly Come Dancing
