Will's a wimp.

There was no point him making a public excuse, because he didn't have a good one. Better to let fans argue on his behalf than put the wimp he is, beyond doubt.
He was determined to do things his own way, never wearing heels and doing that 'ethnic' dance. He probably imagined that if anyone picked him up on it, he was going to eloquently defend his corner and get the public on his side. It didn't work out like that and he took his toys away.
If he thought he was beyond the stage of reality-show criticism, he should never have put himself forward for it. Simples.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

He'll be begging to go on Supermarket Sweep or The Jump next! What a prat - wrecked his career.

He doesn't have the grit and guts to just get on with things and stop focussing on himself., preferring to moon about with his mobile phone. I was a big fan before SCD - all his records and seen him live, but this has really turned me off. He let a lot of people down, not least himself and I bet producers don't return his calls.

Showbusiness seems a poor choice of career for him if he is so bothered by stress. Plenty of stress free opportunities flipping burgers at MacD's.

Will Young suffers from dysthymia (a form of depression) and severe anxiety, which developed after he became famous. He's talked openly about his struggles with it in interviews. I can only assume you've never had to battle with mental illness if you can be that flippant and dismissive of it. Whether it was something relating to that that caused him to leave Strictly or not, writing his problems off as 'stress' is uncalled for tbh.

Don't worry about Will, he's still working, dong what he loves, indulging his passion for jazz in between his albums, and selling out his recently announced gigs within a couple of minutes..Not huge venues, but then jazz clubs never are but, at £150 quid a throw, he won't be flipping burgers anytime soon either, but with the millions he already has, that was never going to be an option was it?


It amazes me how bitter and twisted some of the posters on here are about a person so totally disconnected from them. You have to ask who actually has the problem , Will or them.

And not one of you know why he left SCD depression anxiety or something to do with someone else.
His stated reason was a personal reason, it doesn't mean he couldn't cope with SCD

It doesn't mean he won't be able to talk about the reasons later on in his life

It doesn't mean it was because of anxiety or depression.

The reasons he left are just that personal.


For all the talk of ruining his career no doubt IF he wants to he could do other reality TV.

He could bring out another number one, he could book a tour, all he has to do is tell anyone who needs to know his reasons and there you are sorted.

So for all the talk of having left because of depression anxiety etc etc, pull himself together, snowflake. You have NO idea why he left.

Nor do you need or have any right to.

Nobody is "bitter" but most of us think that when you make an obligation to do something (especially after being paid the kind of money Will was to go on SCD) except in very extreme circumsatnces, you should carry it through.

I've no doubt Will has got problems going on his his life (have heard he suffers from depression, etc.) but the old saying "the show much go on" should still apply.

Smile while your heart is aching. Smile even though it's breaking... Etc...

But the public don't OWN you. You have the right as an individual to your own life and your own privacy. The way I define it is when Hugh Grant got caught out the press had the right to comment and splash it over the papers what they did not have the right to do is camp out on his doorstep when he talked to his girlfriend about it - that is where the line is IMO. Whatever is going on with Will that's HIS business and he probably doesn't feel he can appear on the final show without raking it all up again and possibly triggering what made him leave in the first place. I unllike some others I respect that.

And that mentality destroyed people like Judy Garland - don't wish for it back.

After he left the BBC cut his fee to £5k only, he was very bad to Karen she went to Cornwall to train with him, but he didn't show up. I never expected him to show for the final, and even if he said he would, would get turn up on the day.

Seems he has personal health issues and maybe it's best for all.

The BBC were working with Will again (on a jazz show for the radio) only a few weeks after he left. I'm sure the high profile nature of this incident will probably effect his career generally to a degree, because it makes him look unreliable, but it doesn't appear the organisation itself bears him any particular ill will.

Sorry but he chose to go into showbusiness, many people have far more stressful lives and cannot afford to pack it in and do something else (or do nothing) as he probably has with a substantial amount in the bank.

Unless you are intimately acquainted with him, how can you possibly know how stressful or otherwise his life is?

Karen disavowed that as a lie weeks ago.

You know the Karen who went to Cornwall and rehearsed with him, that Karen.

Yeah I don't think anxiety and depression quite work like that (if they were anything to do with Will's departure). They can be debilitating conditions. It's not like dragging yourself to work with a hangover one time.

Yes, depression certainly can be a debilitating condition, but he was up on stage singing away at some concert a couple of days after he quit Strictly....

For some people on here, once a person has declared themselves to have suffered from depression, that seems to excuse any and all future behaviour....

Always assuming Will left because of depression which we don't know.

It's personal.

Well, you seem to set great store by that word personal, but he is a public figure who had committed to an undertaking on one of the biggest shows on TV, and his involvement affected other people on the show too.
So his decision to withdraw abruptly without any explanation other than 'it's personal' seems unsatisfactory to me, and it was bound to give rise to this kind of speculation.

I am surprised he was even invited to participate in the end of season show.

No one will know why will left. He must have had reasons. I dont think anyone would take the decision to leave SCD lightly. From what I see all the celebs really enjoy being on it. But can only say poor Will for some reason wouldnt do it. I still like him and would let this bother me at all.

Me neither. Liked Will before Strictly, like him still and wish him well.

Well said. The Will apologists on this board seemingly can't just put his case - no they have to label everybody who thinks he let the side down as bitter and twisted. Apart from anything else, it is just so boring, the last resort of those who are, apparently, unable to debate. Why they don't just post on the relevant fan club sites is beyond me.

He was depressed at the thought of all that hard work he'd have to put in and still probably not win it.

Depression is not a selective disease. It affects your whole being - not just the bits that have to turn up to work. If he was sick, no way would he be able to get on stage.

Ermmm.... I thought that was the dance which had been choreographed for him and Karen to dance that week. I don't think it was his concept.

I'm a bit bemused by that comment really - particularly in the context of you suggesting he was determined to "do things his own way". Surely in performing the dance as choreographed, that was him doing things as he had been directed to - and not as he pleased?

Do you feel he ought to have refused to do it?

Very true ... unreliability for whatever reason doesn't sit well with promoters.
He has gigged since leaving Strictly so clearly doesn't appear to have had some kind of breakdown?