A STRONG WILL
Long gone is the fresh-faced reality pop star who got pushed around by Simon Cowell. Meet the Will Young who walked away from Strictly, is breaking the taboos surrounding mental health and starts Twitter wars with politicians. Braver, bolder, stronger
Rosie Green is impressed by braver, bolder, stronger Will Young
Will Young is late. Will Young goes straight into the hair and make-up without saying hi. Then when Will Young finally arrives on set, he declines to wear the hat the stylist proffers. Turns out none of the above was indicative of diva behaviour. Just the result of the location house’s layout and a long-held dislike for millinery. Young is thoroughly amenable. Charming, in fact. At 39, he looks happy, healthy and trim. Good-looking. And he’s self-effacing. With a gentle voice, undercut by naughty humour.
He starts a quiz for the crew between doing his best blue steel for the camera (‘I don’t love smouldering. I mean, it’s fine, but it’s not me.’). And he’s open.
So open, I think about censoring some of his responses in case they make headlines (I won’t).
So, why do we care about Will Young? Well, we’ve grown up with him, haven’t we? He’s been a presence in our lives since he won Pop Idol back in 2002 at 23. Since his pop success (four No1 singles), he’s resurfaced with acting projects (Mrs
Henderson Presents), stage shows (Cabaret in 2013, and again in 2017) and writing (books). All showcasing his talent and versatility. Then, of course, came Strictly.
As he sits on the sofa, with a cushion in his lap, he describes the frenzy that ensued when he left midway through the 2016 season for ‘personal reasons’. It was front-page news and, within hours, there were photographers camped outside his house. His statement wasn’t enough to satisfy the tabloids, so speculation intensified. Was it ‘squabbles with partner Karen Clifton’ as The Daily Mail suggested, or a falling out with Len over the authenticity of his salsa or even his ‘devotion to his dogs’ (The Sun)? ‘It’s a massive TV show, and I dared to walk away from it, so the reaction was if someone does that, then they must be up themselves.’ The truth was his mental health was in crisis. ‘I was really ill. It wasn’t pleasant.’ Didn’t he think the press would’ve be kinder if they’d have known the real reason? ‘I just thought, “I’m going to be mauled,” so I’m not going to throw that into the fray.’ Instead, he waited til the following May and talked to Bryony Gordon about it on her podcast Mad
World. ‘It was the right platform.’ On it he was candid, saying he considered breaking his leg so he could leave with what the public might consider an acceptable reason. And the aftermath? ‘I don’t read any papers because therein lies madness. I learnt that quite early on. But I was listening to Radio 4, I thought, “I’ll be safe there.” And then it was on the media show.’ He tells me he started documenting the episode ‘videoing the before, during and after’. He had a channel lined up to air it, ‘but then they got scared’.
He’s commendably open about his mental health. He has various issues, one of which is PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). It stems, he thinks, from being separated at birth from Rupert (his twin). ‘They put twins in separate incubators then, whereas now they put them next to each other. My traumatic experience with attachment as a baby didn’t set me up for the best nervous system in the world. I’m doing really well on that front, but it’s taken a long time. Some reports suggest Young has spent upwards of half a million on therapy. ‘I try everything. I went to Chicago to do an injection called a Stellate block which is this massive needle that goes into your neck. There’s a doctor called Dr Eugene Lipov using it for PTSD in war veterans. The idea is the
‘I DON’T READ ANY PAPERS AS THEREIN LIES MADNESS’
anesthetic used for chronic pain can reset the nervous system. I filmed it. I was terrified. It made a huge difference with my physical symptoms.’ The other thing that helps is talking. ‘I find solace and recovery in hearing other people’s stories, it’s the most powerful thing.’
He’s matured. ‘That’s why I can be so straight about the hat. As long as I say I don’t want to wear it in an appropriate way, then I don’t worry about it. Before, I’d be stressed about not wanting to upset anyone.’ He’s now realised what makes him happy, and that’s not being a pop star. ‘I feel too vulnerable writing songs, but I don’t as a writer of drama, of journalism, of wellbeing. He now has an interesting podcast called Homo Sapiens (which he describes as like ‘an LGBT Woman’s Hour’) with his filmmaker mate Christopher Sweeney, where they interview people like Peter Tatchell and Nicky Haslam. It’s cathartic to him because ‘it’s not about me. We’re just the froth’, he says of himself and Chris.
This interview is to promote his new role, the bandleader in Strictly
Ballroom The Musical, opening March 2018. ‘I feel terrified. Two days in of doing an Aussie accent! I’m on stage all of the time. I have to remind myself to keep calm.’ He likes theatre because ‘it makes people think’ and because ‘there’s a real connection with the audience’. He doesn’t seem to miss pop which he describes as ‘adrenalin city. Like going on a rollercoaster’. How does he feel about young people going on talent shows today? ‘I don’t think I’d want my kid going into it. Saturday night TV shows are all about getting out there live and doing it. I can’t watch them. There’s no difference between that and people going to see gladiators at the coliseum.’ He’s not moaning. Just observing.
What’s his relationship like with fame? ‘There was a two-year patch when I went from being hyper famous, with photographers wanting to take pictures every day, to there being a new breed of people that they were more interested in. My ego and self-esteem had to recalibrate. I remember being outside a Brits party and there were paps and no one took a photo of me and I thought, ‘Ooh, okay.’
Famous friends aren’t his ambition either. ‘I used to think it would make me a better person if I’d had a drink with Hugh Grant last night – I didn’t, I’m making that up – but now I know, just because a person is a famous singer or whatever doesn’t mean they’re not a wanker.’ (NB he’s not accusing HG of being a wanker.)
Perhaps his decision to avoid A-listers is wise. He makes me laugh when he tells me about his faux pas with the stars. ‘To the point where I embargoed myself talking to anyone famous.’ He tells a great story about waving at Anna Wintour across the catwalk: ‘I was convinced she was waving at me, but she wasn’t.’ Another time with David Beckham in his garden. He was holding one of his children when they were a newborn and he tripped on the rockery. ‘I went to grab him and said, “David, thank God you’re okay.” He looked and me and said, “The baby?”’ Which makes me ask how he feels about kids. ‘I can’t wait to have kids. I totally will, be it fostering or adopting. I don’t know if I’d want to have kids if I wasn’t in a relationship because I feel I wouldn’t be able to do it as a single parent. Could that become too isolating?’
For now, though, he’s content with his dogs. ‘They do make me happy. I’ve got a dachshund and a border terrier. There’s a real closeness.
They are like kids – completely dependent. Sometimes I hate them, though.’ This kind of sentence is potentially contentious, but he’s refreshingly unbothered about whether it will be taken the wrong way. We first glimpsed that feistiness when he stood up to Simon Cowell on Pop Idol, when he told him he needed to back up his opinions, not just fling insults. Now others like Nicky Morgan get his criticism. Last year, Young felt the then education secretary was neglecting LGBT mental health in schools, failing to tackle homophobic bullying or respond to the shocking statistic that 53% of gay kids will self-harm. Her refusal to respond to his tweets ‘til he copied in the papers’ infuriated him. Why the campaigning? ‘I’ve developed a maternal feeling – like a lioness. Over the last five years, I sorted a lot of my shit out. Now I feel more protective of younger people and vulnerable people. I want to do more for the world.’
Suddenly, time’s up and Young is keen to return to those dogs. He proffers a bear hug and disappears in a cloud of bonhomie. As the door closes, the stylist whispers, ‘He wasn’t wearing any pants…’ Will Young. Funny, charming, talented. And a little bit subversive.