Will Mellor has revealed the heartbreaking reason he decided to take part in Strictly Come Dancing 2022 – the devastating death of his beloved dad.
Speaking to ED!, the actor admitted losing his father two years ago changed him forever.
He revealed his “mindset completely changed” after the unhappy event in 2020.
Will Mellor is doing Strictly Come Dancing in memory of his dad Bill
Former Coronation Street actor Will told us he’d been asked to take part in Strictly before, but had refused.
He said: “I have been asked before and it scared me.
“I was worried incase it would have a negative impact on my acting career, or anything like that.
“But then I lost my dad in 2020 and my mindset completely changed.”
Tragically, Will’s dad Bill died suddenly during Covid.
The traumatic death, just two weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer, forced Will to re-evaluate his life.
Will explained: “I just thought you’ve got to grab life.
“You’ve got to do things and say yes to more stuff and create memories and that really is what life’s about.
“You realise that when you start losing people.
“I just thought ‘what am I afraid of?'”
What happened to Will Mellor’s dad?
Soap actor Will, 46, announced the death of his dad in an emotional Twitter video.
He admitted that he was struggling to comprehend the death of his “hero”.
He also said he’d experienced the “worst week” of his life.
Tragically, the Strictly star was unable to comfort his grieving family due to social distancing rules at the time.
Will later revealed his dad’s heartbreaking last words to him.
Talking about his grief on a podcast with his former co-star Two Pints’ Ralf Little, Will described the last time he’d seen his dad alive.
He said: “He sat in a chair outside the back door and I sat up the garden.
“I didn’t hug him because of the coronavirus thing and he passed away without me doing that.
“He actually said to me ‘if I got hold of you I wouldn’t be able to let go’.
“That was one of the last things he said to me and it absolutely killed me.”
Worst week of my life. pic.twitter.com/Qpo9BlI5b4
— Will Mellor (@Mellor76) April 18, 2020
Will Mellor’s mum will support his Strictly journey
Line of Duty star Will Mellor also told us that Strictly is his mum’s favourite TV show, which is another important reason he’s taking part.
He said: “Strictly is my mum’s favourite TV show and she’s had a terrible time of it.
“I just thought we need some positivity.”
Will admits he told his mum quite early on that he was taking part, because “I wanted her to have something to look forward to”.
Does Will Mellor have children?
The former Hollyoaks actor also made sure he got the thumbs up from his two children Renee and Jayden.
They’re his kids with dancer Michelle McSween.
Will revealed he had to check his son and daughter approved before agreeing to take part.
He said: “I had to tell my kids, to make sure they weren’t going to be mortified.
“Because usually when I dance, they tell me to stop it!”
Will Mellor reveals weird injury ahead of Strictly
Will also admitted he has a rather worrying injury that may well affect his time on Strictly Come Dancing…
His knees “pop out” and he has to “pop them back in again”.
He said: “I don’t want to get injured.
“I’ve got bad knees from football, I’ve had operations.
“So it’s just if they pop out in the middle of a dance routine live on telly, there’s not much I can do because I will just hit the floor!
“They popped out while I’ve been walking down the stairs before now.
“I don’t want to go out with an injury; it’d kill me because I want to experience the whole thing.”
Read more: Strictly fans declare their winners already as 2022 celebs dazzle in new video
Watch Will Mellor take part in Strictly Come Dancing as the show launches on Friday September 23 2022 at 7pm. The first live show follows on Saturday September 24 at 6.45pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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