Will Young says he felt ‘pressured’ to continue with Strictly and was warned the BBC would ‘never work with him again’ if he quit the show as he reveals he considered suicide after pulling out

Will Young has claimed that he felt ‘pressured’ to continue with Strictly Come Dancing after threatening to quit the show due to his severe agoraphobia.

The singer, 45, famously quit the BBC show back in 2016, and in a new interview, has claimed that he was warned the channel would ‘never work with him again’ if he chose to pull out of the programme. 

At the time Will cited ‘personal reasons’ and ‘anxiety’ as the reason for his and his partner Karen Hauer‘s departure from the show after week three, and he went onto reveal that he entered therapy after considering suicide in the wake of his exit.

However speaking to Rylan Clark on his BBC podcast How To Be In The Spotlight, Will revealed: ‘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”.’

The singer, famously quit the BBC show back in 2016, and has claimed that he was warned the channel would ‘never work with him again’ if he chose to pull out of the programme 

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

MailOnline have contacted BBC representatives for comment.  

He continued: ‘You know, when you’re getting flashbacks and all those kind of things, for me, it was agoraphobia.’

‘So agoraphobia was really bad for me. So literally throughout that stage, I didn’t even know where I was. ‘I’m on that show. If you ever watch it back, I was not even in the room.’

‘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.’

Will left the show after his Bollywood-themed Salsa to Jai Ho, as he explained: ‘Even though the Bollywood dance was good. Sometimes I still watch that back. because I’m really proud of it.’

‘I thought “No, no, this isn’t going to work, I’m not doing this anymore”. Literally after that night.’

‘Also, people put pressure on for money… I didn’t necessarily have the most supportive people behind me at that stage.’

Appearing on Rylan Clark’s podcast How To Be In The Spotlight, Will revealed: ‘It was sort of like “Well, if you pull out, the BBC will never work with you again”‘

On Monday Strictly confirmed their first two celebrities for this year’s 20th anniversary lineup.

Blind comedian Chris McCausland and JLS star JB Gill were announced to be joining the show after weeks of speculation. 

CBeebies actor Chris, 46, lost his sight aged 22 due to a hereditary condition, Retinitis Pigmentosa. 

The comedian said of his next venture: ‘If anybody out there is thinking – How the hell is he going to do that? – then rest assured that I am thinking exactly the same thing.

‘I don’t dance, I haven’t danced, I can’t dance, I can’t see the dancing I will have to do. What can possibly go wrong? Ok don’t answer that…!’

Meanwhile JB follows in the footsteps of his bandmate Aston Merrygold who was eliminated in 10th place during the 2017 series.

Elsewhere Will also opened up about his relationship with his late twin brother as he revealed her confronted him about fame turning him into a ‘machine’.

Will’s twin Rupert took his own life in 2020 after years of battling alcoholism, however before he died he told the singer he didn’t understand why he had turned so ‘steely’ and ‘cold’.

Will said: ‘I maybe became a bit too steely and I remember my late brother saying to me, ‘You’ve become a bit cold’ because I think I was so shut off to it.

‘I remember it was so sad. I could well up about it because he was crying. He was like, ‘I don’t understand what has happened’.

‘I think I was so focused in my head. I was like, ‘You’ve got to get through these five years to have a career’.

‘So, all the c***, all that stuff, I think that made me a little bit machine-like. I wanted to be a famous singer from the age of four [and then] my first gig was at Wembley.’

Will also opened up about his relationship with his late twin brother as he revealed her confronted him about fame turning him into a ‘machine’

Will said: ‘I maybe became a bit too steely and I remember my late brother saying to me, ‘You’ve become a bit cold’ because I think I was so shut off to it’ (pictured in 2009)

Will previously spoke about his devastation at Rupert’s death and the family’s pain while dealing 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 don’t think alcoholism is spoken about enough and it is important to speak out about what it is like to live with someone who has alcoholism in the family, and what that can do to a family.

‘It was difficult, but it is amazing what we do out of love for people. I just didn’t want my brother to die. In the end I didn’t manage to keep him alive, and that is part of my grief process.’