Will Young reveals pressure to stay on Strictly Come Dancing despite severe agoraphobia

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Will Young has opened up about his abrupt departure from Strictly Come Dancing, revealing for the first time that severe agoraphobia forced him to quit the show.

The singer felt "pressured" by his team to continue despite his struggles.Agoraphobia is the extreme or irrational fear of entering open or crowded places.The Pop Idol winner participated in the popular BBC dance competition in 2016 but withdrew after just three weeks, citing personal reasons at the time.

The 45-year-old star expressed his gratitude for being part of one of Britain's most beloved TV shows, stating he left with "joy in my heart that I have been able to take part in one of the most loved shows on British television".In a candid conversation with Rylan Clark on his BBC podcast How To Be In The Spotlight, Young shared his experience: "I tried to pull out of it, but I was sort of pressured to do it."He added, "It was sort of like 'Well, if you pull out, the BBC will never work with you again'." Young continued, explaining that he wasn't in a good place mentally during his stint on the show. "You know, when you're getting flashbacks and all those kind of things, for me, it was agoraphobia", he said."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."He also revealed that people were concerned about his wellbeing during his time on the show. "I had people messaging me going, this isn't good, you're not well.