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Will Young reveals why he really left Strictly

Turns out, it wasn’t because he was easily wounded when people were mean about his salsa after all

It was one of the most random early exits in reality TV history ever – and we’re counting Gemma Collins leaving the jungle after about 10 seconds in that too.

Will Young slipped off his dancing shoes, probably put some scuffed trainers back on, and left Strictly after just three weeks when he entered the show last year.

It was especially weird because he could clearly dance. And he’s clearly good at winning reality shows: see Pop Idol 2002 and Gareth Gates’ disappointed little face for reference.

But now Will’s spilled all on the real reason he left last year’s Strictly Come Dancing – and he says it definitely wasn’t because Len Goodman didn’t like his salsa.

Read more: Which Strictly star reveals that his name isn’t real…

“It was important for me to leave Strictly for my own wellbeing,” he told The Times Magazine in a recent interview.

“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!”

Fair point Will, that did seem a bit ridiculous.

“I love dance, and because of the stuff that was going on personally, I just wasn’t enjoying the dancing,” he explained.

Read more: BGT act booted off show for being pros

Previously, Will had opened up about being a porn and alcohol addict and it turns out that he left Strictly to find an unusual way to deal with that – visiting a shaman, a spiritual healer.

He told The Times Magazine: “I heard about her and thought, ‘I’ll give it a go.’ I don’t talk about what happens in the shamanic process because it goes beyond words.”

It sounds like things are good for Will now, anyway. As well as his visit to the shaman, he’s heading back to his rightful home (AKA the telly) alongside Kelis in Pitch Battle.

AND he’s now loved-up – though it took a bit of effort along the way.

“I said to a friend of mine, ‘I’m famous, but I would quite like to go on Tinder,’” he said. “He said, ‘Go on Tinder then, who cares?’ So I did and it was brilliant, hysterical.”

He didn’t reveal whether he’d actually met his new partner on Tinder though which is a shame because we’re nosy and we want to know.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

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