Will Young

Shame Doesn’t Help Anything

About eight years ago Will Young had a breakdown, he couldn’t get out of bed, his anxiety went through the roof, he became addicted to shopping and would cry constantly. But today the 42-year-old is feeling very Zen and “in-the-moment”. He still has “dreadful” anxiety and hypervigilance – a state of extreme and often inappropriate alertness. But lockdown seems to have offered a kind of respite and has given him a chance to work on his next album, Crying on the Bathroom Floor, a collection of cover versions.

He has talked before about dealing with various addictions (love, shopping, smoking), but he has largely contained them in the past few months, except for smoking! He says the key to dealing with addiction, is to tackle the shame it brings. “You don’t have to be shamed, and don’t let other people shame you for it. My approach is just to be open because it certainly takes away the shame for me to own it. Shame doesn’t help anything. ‘’

Born in Wokingham and going to Wellington College, a private school in Berkshire, Will Young went on to the University of Exeter, where he studied politics. He then moved to London to study musical theatre at Arts Educational School. He knew he wanted to be a singer, but didn’t start professionally until he was 21 because of a lack of confidence in his voice.

It was in 2001, Will Young saw an advert for Pop Idol in the News of the World. The then 23-year old secured his place by performing the Jacksons’ Blame It on the Boogie, accompanied by some very awkward, halfhearted dancing! He then went on to win the final, beating Gareth Gates in a show watched by more than 13 million people. His debut single, Evergreen, went straight to No 1, and stayed there for three weeks. His album From Now On, released shortly after, sold more than 880,000 copies. His status as Britain’s first phone-vote pop star was confirmed. He had a lot of fun on the show itself. “We would jump out of hotel windows to escape security guards – there was something very pure about it.” Even Simon Cowell sitting on the judging panel couldn’t change that.

Despite adverse media attention surrounding Will being gay he has had a dazzling career, with numerous multiplatinum albums, as well as two Brit awards and 12 nominations. He has been able to explore other creative avenues, too, such as acting: in 2013 he played the MC in Cabaret, for which he was nominated for an Olivier award for best actor.

Crying on the Bathroom Floor, the album he has been working on during lockdown celebrates modern women in pop who inspire him. He covers songs by Muna, Clare Maguire and Everything But the Girl (as well as some slightly more mainstream artists such as Robyn and Solange). He is immensely proud of the album and will be playing a few acoustic gigs later this year.

Will Young’s book, To Be a Gay Man is out in paperback now, and his album Crying on the Bathroom Floor is out on 6 August.