Will Young Considered Breaking His Own Leg During Time On ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ As ‘Horrific’ PTSD Took Hold

'I was really ill. I just couldn’t do it any more.'
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Will Young has elaborated on his reason for quitting ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ last year, revealing that he was suffering from “horrific” post traumatic stress disorder.

The 38-year-old cited “personal reasons” for abruptly leaving the BBC dance show in October last year.

At the time, it was rumoured he had left following an on-air spat with head judge Len Goodman.

Will Young
Will Young
C Brandon via Getty Images

But in an interview with Bryony Gordon’s Mad World podcast, the ‘Pop Idol’ star said his PTSD had got so bad that he considered breaking his own leg in a bid to leave ‘Strictly’.

He said: “I was really ill. I was dragging myself to rehearsals. I just couldn’t do it any more. It was so bad I thought - I’m not joking - I thought about breaking my leg.

“I decided to take on Strictly because I bloody love dancing. And I bloody hated it, because I was so ill.”

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The ‘Leave Right Now’ singer revealed he has spent £500,000 on treatment over the course of his adult life, including seeing a shaman and doing ‘shaking therapy’.

He explained: “Animals, if they get attacked and survive, will shake and shake off the trauma. So in my therapy I’ve done a lot of shaking.

“I’ve probably spent at least half a million quid on my therapy. I’ve spent at least £200,000 on treatment alone. I could afford it - most people can’t. It makes me desperately sad.”

In a separate interview with the Times at the weekend, Will insisted he didn’t leave because of any differences with Len Goodman.

He said: “It was important for me to leave Strictly for my own wellbeing. It was a number of things. It was nothing to do with the people on the show, and it certainly wasn’t because Len Goodman dissed my salsa – I mean, come on!”

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