August 16, 20177 yr Author https://twitter.com/RossAdams77/status/ ... 0952545280 Ross Adams@RossAdams77 Great coverage in today's @MetroUK @willyoung and Chris, congrats!
August 17, 20177 yr Author Will and Chris will be pleased.They mentioned their top shows to appear on were here and Woman's Hour. https://twitter.com/Vinny_LBC/status/898178120959762434 VincwMent McAvineyVerified account @Vinny_LBC @willyoung Hi Will, listening to #homosapienspodcast, we'd love to have you both on @LBC, could you follow to DM to arrange, thanks x
August 17, 20177 yr Will and Chris will be pleased.They mentioned their top shows to appear on were here and Woman's Hour. https://twitter.com/Vinny_LBC/status/898178120959762434 VincwMent McAvineyVerified account @Vinny_LBC @willyoung Hi Will, listening to #homosapienspodcast, we'd love to have you both on @LBC, could you follow to DM to arrange, thanks x It's great it's been so well received and that there's interest in hearing more about it. :D
August 23, 20177 yr Author Tweets from Will. Will Young @willyoung 18m And the new episode! Listen now to the new episode of Homo Sapiens with @PeterTatchell. He is beyond inspiring. acast.com/homosapiens/s0… Will Young @willyoung 19m Question of the day for #homospapiens who was your first crush?
August 23, 20177 yr Author Tweets from Will. Will Young @willyoung 18m And the new episode! Listen now to the new episode of Homo Sapiens with @PeterTatchell. He is beyond inspiring. acast.com/homosapiens/s0… Will Young @willyoung 19m Question of the day for #homospapiens who was your first crush?
August 23, 20177 yr I'm loving Tuesdays and Fridays at the moment knowing there's a fresh podcast to listen to.:cheer:
August 23, 20177 yr Author Will and Chris were on the Media Show on radio 4 today. https://twitter.com/carolewalkercw/stat ... 0234342400 Carole WalkerVerified accoun@carolewalkercw Really enjoyed chatting about the lobby with @amolrajanBBC on Media Show .. star struck to be in studio with Will Young! Clean shaven possibly in rehearsals for Cabaret.
August 25, 20177 yr Author Less than a month to opening night. :yahoo: Cast announcement. Cast announced for tour of Cabaret starring Will Young and Louise Redknapp The last tour of Cabaret the Musical which followed a run at the Savoy Theatre and starred Will Young as the enigmatic Emcee ended in December 2013. Bill Kenwright is mounting a new UK tour of the musical starting next month when Will Young is again to play the award winning role of the Emcee. Strictly Come Dancing finalist and ex Eternal member Louise Redknapp is playing Sally Bowles. They will be joined by Susan Penhaligon/Fraulein Schneider, Charles Hagerty/Cliff Bradshaw, Linal Haft/Herr Schultz, Nick Tizzard/Ernst Ludwig (u/s Schultz),Basienka Blake/Fraulein Kost with ensemble members Katrina Kleve (u/s Sally Bowles), Jordan Livesey (u/s Emcee), Helen Siveter (u/s Kost), Alicia Mencia, Sophie Hirst, Maria Garrett, Hannah Nicholas, Liam Marcellino, Jack Mitchell, Luke Jackson and swing Matthew Wesley Theatre Spy at 08:18
August 26, 20177 yr Author Up for the Rising Star Award. https://www.theonlineradioawards.com/2017/talk-show/
August 26, 20177 yr Author He is munchkin. :dance: Will YoungVerified account@willyoung Can't believe it!!!!! Thanks so all who listen and email and tweet #homesapiens yes!!!!!
August 27, 20177 yr Author Thanks to Julie for information on the cast. Susan Penhaligon/Fraulein Schneider Susan Penhaligon (born 3 July 1949) is a British actress and writer. She is known for her role in the drama series Bouquet of Barbed Wire (1976), and for playing Helen Barker in the sitcom A Fine Romance (1981–84). She also appeared in the soap opera Emmerdale (2006). Her film appearances include No Sex Please, We're British (1973) and Paul Verhoeven's Soldier of Orange (1977). Penhaligon's first appearance in the theatre was playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Connaught Theatre Worthing in a two weekly repertory company.[5] In the West End she appeared in a 1987 production of Three Sisters at the Albery Theatre.[6] In 1982, she played a leading part in The Real Thing at the Strand Theatre, Aldwich (now called the Novello). She appeared in The Maintenance Man at the Comedy Theatre in 1987, and played "Curley’s Wife" in a 1984 production of Of Mice and Men at the now defunct Mermaid Theatre.[7] She has toured the UK extensively, appearing in productions of The Constant Wife (Richmond Theatre, 2004),[8] Mrs. Warren's Profession (Richmond Theatre, 2009),[9] Death Trap (Theatre Royal, Norwich, 2002),[10] Agatha Christie's Verdict (Floral Pavilion Theatre, 2011),[5] Dangerous Obsession with Simon Ward (Theatre Royal, Bath, 1989),[11] and Lord Arthur Saville's Crime by Oscar Wilde (Richmond Theatre, 2005).[12] She was in Time and the Conways, Lower Depths and The Cherry Orchard, and played a leading part in Arthur Miller's Broken Glass at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds. In the Edinburgh Festival Fringe she appeared in the premiere of Dario Fo's Abduction Diana and she appeared in a critically acclaimed production of Misery at the King's Head Theatre. http://thatsmycornwall.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/spotlight_pic.jpg
August 27, 20177 yr Author Matthew Weasley playing Bobby again. http://www.fromheretoeternitythemusical.com/images/photos/matthew-wesley.jpg
August 27, 20177 yr Author BASIENKA BLAKE | Fraulein Kost SAINOU TALENT AGENCY LONDON She has worked extensively with The Aquila Theatre Co. in Romeo and Juliet and Canterbury tales (US Tour), as well with The Pitlochry Festival Theatre where she has led in their productions Hello Dolly and A Little Night Music. She is currently performing on the UK Tour Cabaret for Bill Kenwright Ltd directed by Rufus Norris. Screen credits include Victoria for ITV, Not Going Out for the BBC and feature film London Road directed by Rufus Norris. Film LONDON ROAD, Cuba Pictures, Rufus Norris Janet, DON’T STOP DREAMING, Media What Else Productions Ltd, Karan Saluja Jackie, LUNAR GIRL, Innocent Films, Janis Sharp Television Elena, CASUALTY, BBC TV, Tracey Larcombe Madam, VICTORIA, ITV/Mammoth Screen, Sandra Goldbacher Olga, NOT GOING OUT, BBC TV & Avalon, Nick Wood Yasemine, CHOPRA TOWN, Hat Trick Prods for BBC TV, Sean Grundy Svetlana, CARRIE AND BARRY, Hartswood Films, Martin Dennis Erika Okur, CASUALTY (2 Eps), BBC TV, Declan O’Dwyer/Christopher King Rosa Millcroft, DOCTORS, BBC TV, Topher Campbell Briony Wellborn, THE ROYAL, YTV, Paul Duane Francoise, THE SECOND COMING, Red Productions, Adrian Shergold Toni, CLOCKING OFF, Red Productions, David Jackson Roanna, A GOOD THIEF, Granada Films, Douglas Mackinnon Corinne, SMALL POTATOES, Hat Trick Prods for C4, Paul Duane Valerie, THE VICE , Carlton TV, Douglas Mackinnon Karen, GET REAL, Carlton TV, Dewi Humphreys Karen, WITH FRIENDS LIKE YOU, Carlton TV, Martin Dennis Gitta, THE NEW ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, Warner Bros., Juan Mas Mandy, THE KNOCK, LWT, Keith Washington Caroline, FRANK STUBBS (Series Regular), Noel Gay/Carlton TV, Various Theatre Fraulein Kost, CABARET (UK TOUR), Bill Kenwright Ltd, Rufus Norris DC Hicks, RUMPY PUMPY, Theatre Royal, Windsor / New Union Theatre, Simon Greiff Vivienne, PYRENEES, Pitlochry Festival Theatre Mrs Shuttleworth, HOME AND BEAUTY, Pitlochry Festival Theatre Desirée, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, Pitlochry Festival Theatre Evilla, CINDERELLA, Mercury Theatre, Daniel Buckroyd Dolly, HELLO DOLLY, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Richard Baron Mrs Erlynne, LADY WINDEMERE’S FAN, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Richard Baron Coral/HMQ, SINGLE SPIES, Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Richard Baron La Goulou, PARIS THUNDER, Charing Cross Theatre, Phil Willmott Natasha, ROUGH CROSSING, Vienna’s English Theatre, Philip Dart Isabella, VENEZIA, Teatro San Gallo, Venice, David Bozzato Conchita, COPACABANA, Watermill Theatre, Craig Revel Horwood Fraulein Kost, CABARET, UK Tour, Rufus Norris Vivien, DIRTY DANCING, Aldwych Theatre, West End, James Powell Wife of Bath, CANTERBURY TALES, Aquila Theatre Co, Lincoln Centre New York/US Tour, Peter Meineck Juliet, ROMEO & JULIET, Aquila Theatre Co, Lincoln Centre New York/US Tour, Robert Richmond Vicky, PREACHEROSITY, Okai Collier Company, Omar Okai Cruella De Vil, ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS, Chester Gateway, Richard Williams Mary, CAUGHT IN THE NET, UK Tour, Bruce James Bathsheba Everdene, FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD, Middle Ground Theatre Co., Alison Gorton Conchita, COPACABANA, Rossen & Ronnow (Scandinavian Tour), Craig Revel Horwood Charlotte, CHARLOTTE’S WEB, Birmingham Stage Co, Graeme Messer The Grand High Witch, THE WITCHES, Birmingham Stage Co, Graeme Messer Ursula, SWEET CHARITY, Victoria Palace, West End, Carol Metcalfe Suzanne, DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER, English Theatre Frankfurt, Richard Hansom Belinda, NOISES OFF, Brewhouse Theatre, Taunton, Jonathan Holloway Bunny/Beth, CALIFORNIA SUITE, Derek Nimmo Ent., Roger http://www.sainou.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2-1392594787_Basienka-Blake-111-copy-300x378.jpg
August 29, 20177 yr Author Will Young will join Louise Redknapp in Cabaret at New Wimbledon Theatre and the Churchill Theatre, Bromley Image The original Pop Idol is heading back to the stage to kick off a UK tour reprising his Olivier Award nominated role Will Young stars alongside Louise Redknapp in Wimbledon and Bromley to reprise his Olivier Award-nominated performance as Emcee in Rufus Norris’ acclaimed production ‘Cabaret’. Young has played the part before in both the 2012 and 2014 UK tours after rising to fame for winning the 2001 series of Pop Idol and going on to hold the record for the fastest selling debut single in UK history. The Evergreen singer said: “I am really excited about the show and performing again – this will be my third time. “I wasn’t sure if I would do part again – I can’t quite believe it as I said goodbye to him so it is a total bonus. “I kept saying you can’t indulge too much and do it again but then I was thinking well could I do it and then the offer came in and I was like it was meant to be.” The Pop Idol winner stars alongside pop singer and television presenter Louise Redknapp who will make her debut as Sally Bowles after finding fame as a member of the R&B girl group Eternal in the 90s. “Louise is great – she really is and I wouldn’t say anything at all and keep quiet if I didn’t think so,” the music artist said. “Also when I knew Louise was doing it I just had to do it and it was even more meant to be. “She will be the best Sally that I have ever performed with because we are both pop stars and I think it will be really interesting as we bond on that - you know she really has that additional star quality.” Young has opened up to the public about being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder in 2012 while making his debut in the Cabaret tour and that he has previously suffered from panic attacks which he has spent previous years having treatment for. He said: “To be honest this year I am more worried about my dogs pooing on my carpet than anything else because they come with me and on tour. “Do you know I might even try and get them to come on stage with me. The pop stars start rehearsals next week for the musical which features some of the most iconic songs in theatre history including including ‘Money Makes The World Go Round’, ‘Two Ladies’ ‘Maybe This Time’ and ‘Cabaret’. Young said: “I know it will be fine as I have done it all before but I look forward to working on my voice and accent again. “I am looking forward to getting my head and body back into it - he is such a free spirit I can literally go with it like meditation – he has a true presence – there is no thought – it is all about being in the moment. “The show ultimately always depends on the audience because then it takes a life of its own. “Oh the costumes are amazing – I wear a different costume each time I am on stage so I am always on my toes but they really strike a balance because they look like they do belong in the time but still feel more modern. Norris, the director of the National Theatre and a multi-award-winning theatre and opera director, has turned Weimar Berlin of 1931 into a haven of corruption with the ‘legendary and notorious’ Emcee at the heart who performs nightly at the infamous Kit Kat Klub. Young said: “Rufus has done so well at the National – we became really good friends through Cabaret and I really believe in what he does – he is a true artist and does things differently. “He is a gentle director not a shouty shouty one which really works because you know that saying how the captain runs the ship is how the ship runs the course. “The cast and crew are like a family we all work so well together.” http://www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk/news/15..._and_Wimbledon/ Edited August 29, 20177 yr by truly talented
August 29, 20177 yr Author Manchester Evening News. Pop Idol Will Young is returning to his second home Manchester to reprise his Laurence Olivier Award-nominated role Emcee in Cabaret. The Your Game and All Time Love hitmaker is reprising his role as the enigmatic Emcee alongside Louise Redknapp who he starred alongside in last year’s Strictly Come Dancing line-up. Will, who won the first series of Pop Idol in 2002 with his soulful voice in a nail-biting final with Gareth Gates, is full of praise for Louise who makes her stage debut as Sally Bowles in Rufus Norris’ multi-award winning production which comes to the Lowry in November. He said: “It’s amazing to star alongside Louise in Cabaret. She’s been a performer for longer than I have and she’s so talented, so professional and she’ll be a firecracker. “Once that’s in someone it never leaves. She’s brilliant, and a great actor.” Will made a sudden departure from the Strictly class of 2016 after just a few weeks. He has since spoken out to explain that his decision to leave the BBC1 dance show was for his own well-being after suffering from anxiety, and nothing to do with comments from ex-head judge Len Goodman. He told us: “Sometimes things don’t work out. “A lesson I’ve learned is to do things that make you happy and to be be brave enough and say ‘stop.’ “Sometimes it’s harder to say stop than carry on. “Everyone on Strictly was lovely and people thought I left because of a judge but it wasn’t true. “I love dance and I always will. But I was feeling very ill and the element of competition can take away the enjoyment. “You only have one life.” The podcast host, who is enjoying huge success with his new LGBTQ podcast Home Sapiens and is taking an extended break from pop music to concentrate on acting, is delighted to be back in Manchester where he worked while filming the spooky drama Bedlam at locations across the city including Whalley Range and Victoria Baths in 2011. “I’m really excited and pleased to be back in Manchester because I call it my second home,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of acting jobs there and I lived on the outskirts of Ramsbottom for three months so it’s really special to me. “I would walk the dogs and I remember there was a shop that had a micro pig and I would feed it bananas. And they had a parrot and it was terrifying. It would bite everybody.” Last year he headlined Manchester Pride - and caused a stir when he climbed into the audience to go crowd surfing. “Pride was amazing, and I still don’t know how I got to the other end of the crowd,” he laughed. “I thought I was going to die.” Will, who holds the record for the fastest selling debut single in British chart history and has racked up four number albums as well as acting alongside Dame Judi Dench in the film Mrs Henderson Presents, was nominated for an Olivier Award for his West End portrayal as cabaret club ringmaster Emcee for best actor in a musical in 2013. He’s bringing Emcee back to the Kit Kat Club for the UK tour of the dazzling show set within the rise of the Nazis in Weimar Berlin in 1931, featuring some of the most iconic songs in theatre including Money Makes The World Go Round, Maybe This Time and Cabaret. The show high-kicks into the Lowry Theatre from Tuesday November 7 to Saturday November 11. To book tickets click here.
September 2, 20177 yr Author The Guardian 08/07 Will Young: ‘People confuse me with Olly Murs. That tests me. I thought I was better-looking.’ Emine SanerFriday 7 July 2017 17.28 BST China in his hands … Will Young Will Young has lived in his beautiful country cottage for six months, and I can’t work out how much of the house’s contents belong to the popstar or were left by a previous, elderly, owner. There is heavy furniture, gardening books, and paintings the colour of dust; a dresser heaves with china. The other odd thing is how unselfconsciously lived-in it is. There are dishes in the sink, and the cushions on the sofa, where we sit with Young’s sausage dog between us, are not plumped. I also find the odd After Eight wrapper dotted around the floor. This isn’t a criticism. If I’m expecting visitors, I cram dirty pans into a cupboard and sweep clutter under the sofa. So I like the way Young doesn’t seem to mind about impressing anyone. And I find it strange. There was probably a time when he was bothered about what people thought, but not so much now. So here he sits, wearing a mustard-coloured boxy shirt, which is modestly buttoned all the way up to the top – an odd contrast to the fact that, on his bottom half, he wears only underpants. Earlier, for the Guardian’s photographer, he was wearing a blue dress he’s bought for his mum. This weekend is London’s Pride parade. He says he was feeling “a bit laissez-faire about it” but then watched some of the BBC’s season celebrating LGBT lives to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality, “and I actually think there’s something about this weekend that’s really special, more than I realised. It’s really important to remember all those people on whose shoulders we stand. It’s all about love and strength.” Campaigner Peter Tatchell this week claimed its protest roots have become obscured by money.: “Big corporations,” he wrote, “see it as a PR opportunity to fete LGBT consumers. The ideals of LGBT equality are barely visible.” Does Young think Pride has become too commercialised, with brands co-opting the movement? How does he feel about rainbows on everything from trainers to drinks bottles? “I think it’s great. For me, Pride denotes acceptance. I think [the parade]is still important and I know some [LGBT people] feel very possessive over it and don’t feel it should be extended – to say: ‘No, this is for us, it isn’t about moving it into brands and corporations.’ But if you’re a 12-year-old kid and you go up the escalators on the underground, and there’s the rainbow [on adverts], I think what it stands for is very powerful and crosses boundaries.” Isn’t it calculating and cynical? “I don’t think it matters. I think they don’t have a choice and that’s the most important thing. Of course, brands are going to get on board, they don’t want to miss the boat.” As winner of Pop Idol in 2002, Simon Cowell’s 2002 precursor to the X Factor, Young was plucked from middle-class obscurity. Back then, it was still unusual for a mainstream star to be openly gay, particularly so early in their career. “It was scary, and I’m pleased that it has moved on so much that it’s not even really talked about.” But at the time, he says, “I felt really vulnerable.” Once he and a boyfriend had to run into a restaurant to get away from a gang who were threatening to stab them. He remembers the then Radio 1 breakfast DJ Chris Moyles making jokes about Young’s sexuality. “I mean, f***, I should have gone for him and the BBC, but people didn’t really take it seriously.” If it had happened now, “the BBC would shit themselves. But at the time I didn’t really take any notice, I thought there’s no place for me to [challenge it]. It does seem like another world, and I think it’s really important to see how far things have come. I suppose me, and everyone else who is LGBT, has lived through a really interesting time, from same-sex partnerships to marriage, and legal rights, and now we’re more understanding and enlightened on transgender people, and what it is to be gendered.” Still, Young gets abuse. He was verbally attacked just two years ago. “I screamed out to the whole street: ‘These guys are being homophobic to me and calling me a fag.’ And the whole energy of the street turned against them, and they freaked out. People started picking fights with them. It was amazing. That wouldn’t have been the case three years previously.” Young’s last studio album of his own work, 85% Proof, came out in 2015 and he has no plans to release another. Instead, he is doing other things – a return of his part as the MC in Rufus Norris’s production of Cabaret; writing a TV series, and is also about to launch Homo Sapiens, a podcast conceived by, and recorded with, his friend Chris Sweeney, who sold it to Young as a kind of Woman’s Hour but for LGBT+ people. It turned into interviews with people such as Tatchell, John Grant, Owen Jones and Rebecca Root, with Young and Sweeney talking about their own lives. The common theme, he says, is “honesty. To anyone who is in a minority, and has grown up within a shaming culture for whatever reason, there tends to be an open-mindedness and acceptance of others, and that’s one of the things I love about being a gay man. I think the theme would be having experienced being an outsider, coping with that however it came up, and a sense of openness. Everyone has had their own moments of toughness.” Young has had several. Pop Idol, he says, was “magical. Becoming famous, that’s weird. Wanting to get a singing career established – that took five or six years. Dealing with the fame thing, how I felt in my job, going into acting, having a breakdown, getting through that, getting really ill, dealing with that.” He smiles. “Now I’m here.” About five years ago, Young was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He has said it was probably caused by any number of things - being separated from his twin brother at birth (they were born six weeks prematurely), being bullied at school, or feeling shame for being gay. He experienced depersonalisation (he felt detached and couldn’t even recognise himself in a mirror) and anxiety, stopped sleeping and eating, and had suicidal thoughts. He knows he is fortunate to have had the means and time to get better, and still has treatment. It flares up sometimes. “My hypervigilance is still really bad,” he says of one of the symptoms, which makes him acutely sensitive to his surroundings and puts him on constant high alert. He went to a wedding of a friend in Portugal and his anxiety became so bad, he had to come home. “Relationships are very triggering, they’re hard for me. They’re upsetting, I feel upset talking about it. But I don’t have it bad, so there’s no point sitting there going: ‘Woe is me.’” He pulled out of the last series of Strictly Come Dancing because it was making him ill. “There was no option. What was the point? I had reached a limit. I rang my manager and I was stammering, I couldn’t even get words out and she was like: ‘This is enough now’.” At the time he said the decision was for “personal reasons” but later said it was as a result of PTSD. It’s still unusual to be so publicly vulnerable. “I’ve got nothing to be afraid of,” he says. “The worst fear is what can happen in my nervous system, there’s nothing that’s going to affect me like that.” He didn’t worry how it would affect his profile, his career, because he says “That’s not my happiness. I’d be a fool to make it my happiness because then I’d be up and down the whole time. My happiness probably lies in little moments.” He admits to being irritated when people ask him if he’s still singing, because there’s a hint of failure in the question (he is, and will be releasing a covers album – he just says he has no desire to write his own material at the moment). The TV series he is writing is a comedy about what it’s like to be a 38-year-old pop star. “I think there are just lots of funny moments,” he says. “People constantly confuse me with Olly Murs, and that crucifies my ego. I think, ‘Oh shit, he’s more important than me.’ That tests me. I thought I was better-looking than him.” A company approached him offering free teeth-whitening in return for a promotion. “I don’t particularly want to have my teeth whitened and it’s also the thing of have they seen a picture of me and just gone ‘He needs to get his teeth whitened’?” Then there’s the challenge of being famous and going on Grindr. Young told a friend he wanted to go on it because he hadn’t had sex for two years, but that he was worried because he was famous. “He just said: ‘Who cares?’ And yeah, who cares? I’m an adult.” One of the apps blocked his account because people reported it as a fake. He laughs. “That was a time then, and I think it can move into unhealthy behaviour. Now I want a relationship that is a different thing to having a shag.” Young was shopping in his local town recently and someone approached him and asked what he was doing there. “They don’t think I do anything normal.” He does have quite a pop-starry life, he points out (he has three houses for a start) but he seems live a quieter existence now. “I did try to do more of a pop star thing – go to parties and hang out with famous people and I just didn’t like it. But I think at the time I felt I should be doing that. I felt very ashamed that I didn’t have more famous friends, I thought there must be something wrong with me.” Will he go back to writing music? “It would be silly to go ‘No’, but I don’t know. There’s nothing worse than a popstar who goes ‘I’m stopping now’ and then: ‘I’m back again!’” he laughs. “People are thinking ‘Nobody gave a shit’.” There are other things he wants to do – writing, and activism around mental health and issues facing young LGBT people. “I feel much more vulnerability writing songs than I do writing scripts, or writing a piece. If a script doesn’t work, I can blame the director. If a piece doesn’t work, then it’s just my opinion. If the music doesn’t work, then I’m the face of it, and I find that harder. I just realised what makes me happy and what doesn’t.” The Times 27/05 the weekend part of the Times, under Body & Soul. Will Young: “It was important for me to leave Strictly for my own wellbeing” MICHAEL LECKIE FOR THE TIMES Most of us still think of Will Young as a youthful popstar. In fact, it was in 2002 that he won the first series of Pop Idol and the singer is now 38. How does he feel about approaching 40? “There is a thing that, gosh, you are 38, you’re over the hill in gay land,” he says with a smile. “But I bloody love it. I like being a man of 38. It’s cool. I’m a grown-up.” With a scrubby beard and hair that’s been peroxide blond since February, Young is affable, alternately garrulous and guarded, his accent still that of a posh boy from Hungerford, and his speech peppered with language common to those who have had a lot of therapy. He says he is in control of — or at least understands — himself now. For Young has had more than his share of psychological problems since he won Idol and became a favourite with teenagers and their middle-aged mothers. Things seemed to come to a head when he quit Strictly Come Dancing for “personal reasons” last year, after he was criticised by one of the judges, Len Goodman. “It was important for me to leave Strictly for my own wellbeing,” he says, carefully. Was it family or relationship problems, or a flare-up of old anxieties? “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! I love dance, and because of the stuff that was going on personally, I just wasn’t enjoying the dancing.” Young suffered from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that manifested in frightening conditions called “derealisation”, where sufferers see other people and the environment around them as dream-like and unreal, and “depersonalisation” where they feel detached, observing themselves and their feelings and thoughts as if they belong to someone else. For Young it meant that he couldn’t recognise himself in the mirror. He also had addictions to alcohol, shopping, porn and even love. Last year, he says, he read some self-help books and realised that his anxieties and addictive behaviours were symptoms of trauma, which enabled him to master or at least recognise them. “I read these things very quickly and it was, like, ‘Oh, I get it,’ ” he says. “ ‘That’s why I watch a lot of porn — I’m a porn addict. Shit, didn’t realise that. That’s what goes on with the love [addiction]thing — didn’t realise that either.’ I kind of dealt with it all in nine months.” Young has had therapy and believes that the trauma originated at birth. He was born ten minutes before his twin, who had pneumonia, and was taken and put in an incubator. “I think that created a nervous system that was on edge, and understandably so,” he says. “Trauma lies beneath 99.9 per cent of addictions.” His solution to mastering his trauma was somewhat unconventional. He saw a shaman. “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.” This seems to have been a one-off course of treatment, while therapy for his PTSD (much of it apparently group-based, so also not up for detailed discussion) is ongoing. When he was single a year or so ago, Young, who came out in 2002 shortly after winning Pop Idol, was using the Tinder dating app a lot. “I said to a friend of mine, ‘I’m famous, but I would quite like to go on Tinder.’ He said, ‘F***ing go on Tinder then, who cares?’ So I did and it was brilliant, hysterical.” He had some dates, but wasn’t on the app long enough to become dependent. “Those things are conduits, not places to have relationships — the same as being in a bar can be a conduit or being set up at a dinner party.” He is in a relationship now, but won’t say where he met his partner, whether he’s famous or not, or whether he shares Young’s homes in London, Oxford and Cornwall. He will be performing at the Hampton Court, Latitude and Hay festivals this summer, singing cover versions rather than his own songs. He will also be giving talks about wellbeing at other festivals. “I don’t use the word mindfulness because it is a phrase that is misleading,” he says, seemingly unaware that his own website talks about “Will Young mindfulness talks this summer”. He has a new record deal and remains enthused, but hard-headed about what he calls his “job”: a 16-year career and an estimated £13.5 million fortune is pretty good for a reality TV show winner. He says we all have addictive behaviours — he could still potentially spend £200 on socks in Sports Direct, but now he will recognise it as a sign that he is avoiding something else. If he suffers social anxiety, about going to the pub with friends, for example, he won’t fret and overanalyse it. He barely drinks now anyway, having quit drinking and smoking on his last tour, playing the master of ceremonies in the musical Cabaret, although he has since taken up tobacco again. “I think that’s fine after three years of not being able to recognise your own face,” he says. Will Young’s perfect weekend Toast and Marmite or green juice? Green juice. God, I can’t believe I’m saying that Tube or taxi? Taxi Reality TV or period drama? Period drama Twitter or telephone? Telephone Quiet night in or red carpet night out? Ugh, not red carpet. Can’t think of anything worse. I’d rather have a good old dance Gardening or cooking? I don’t enjoy cooking, but I love gardening. I’ve just planted all my sweet peas and lupins, from seeds I couldn’t get through the weekend without . . . A cigarette Good supportive article from Lorraine Kelly. Almost eight months down the line we discover that, as I had expected all along, Will’s crippling mental health problems made it impossible for him to continue in the stressful and competitive show. If Will, really was an attention-seeking narcissist then he would never have quit a show that gives contestants such a massively high profile and can also kick-start stalled careers. It was a much tougher decision for him to leave and have to deal with the barrage of criticism that ensued. And Will really did get a kicking from people who thought he was acting like a big spoiled brat. There was more to Will's exit than met the eye This week, the truth emerged and Will described himself as suffering from “horrific” post- traumatic stress disorder. He developed a stammer and became crippled with fear at the thought of stepping on to the dance floor. He actually seriously considered breaking his own leg so that he wouldn’t have to compete in the show. This was clearly someone really struggling to cope and sinking into a deep, dark abyss. It’s easy for outsiders to think Will was over-reacting and of course there are always those who will tell people like him to pull themselves together. But that’s just about the worst thing you can say to someone struggling with any type of mental illness. Will admitted he was in a very dark place hey need understanding, sympathy and an environment where they can be honest without being judged. Thanks to people such as Will, who has opened up about his condition, and trail- blazers such as the award-winning actress Denise Welch, we are getting far better at acknowledging those who are living with mental health problems and giving them sympathy and understanding. Telegraph 29/05 In an interview for Bryony Gordon's Mad World podcast this week, the singer Will Young openly discussed his post-traumatic stress diesorder, which he believes was first sparked by being separated as a newborn from his twin brother, who was ill at birth. The trauma was then exacerbated by his time at a "vicious" prep school and recurred while he was competing in Strictly Come Dancing, he says. Here, in his own words, he writes of how the illness felt and what he has learned from it. Three years ago, if not more, I contracted post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I don’t like the word ‘contracted’. PTSD is defined as a mental illness, a flooding of the brain's senses. But it was wasn’t contracted, nor did it suddenly occur. It was merely the awakening of latent energies that had laid dormant for 33 years. So perhaps I will use the word ‘arrived’. I arrived at PTSD. I have been extremely fortunate. PTSD came at the time it needed to and I was ready for it. I had nowhere else to go. I had earned good money and achieved all the goals I had set out to achieve in my career. I had bought fast cars and big houses, slept with beautiful people, partied, tried drugs, bought expensive clothes, flown on private jets, taken expensive holidays, the lot. I had basically tried everything the western world promoted as ‘happiness’ - and had seen that it hadn’t worked. I was fortunate that I got to this place. There was no option, I had run out of them. I also had the time and the funds to take three years off singing to concentrate on getting better. Therapy didn’t come cheap and I had no earnings, but still I could afford to do it. So how did I arrive at this point? After years of previous therapy, which was beneficial, it was recommended I attend an experiential residential therapeutic course that lasted eight days. There, many past demons were laid to rest. I came out and began to work through behaviours such as co-dependence, love addiction and looking at other addictions I had procured in my adult life. It was this dissembling of my behavioural habitat that led me to confront my true feelings of trauma. Suddenly, amid what could only be described as a breakdown (as in a literal breaking down of how I was leading and viewing my life to that point) I suddenly lost all sense of who I was, who other people were, and places. I couldn’t even recognise my own face in the mirror. Life seemed unreal, as if in a movie, and I questioned the very existence of everybody. It led to pure and existential terror. Not understanding what this feeling was, I took to the internet and found I was experiencing a 'depersonalisation’ and ‘derealisation’ linked to incredible anxiety, and a symptom of PTSD. My therapist suspected I was indeed suffering from PTSD and recommended me to a clinic that specialised in this field, Khiron House. Over the next five years I was to undergo regular somatic re-experiencing and eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing therapy (EMDR). Both these therapies deal with the body. They differ to talk therapy in that they work from the body out. EMDR uses eye movement to recalibrate the brain's system of storing traumatic memories and feelings. Somatic re-experiencing asks you to gently feel into your body and sense the trauma. With the guidance of my therapist I slowly chipped away at the traumatic energy stored up in my body, releasing it bit by bit. PTSD occurs when someone has been privy to an event, either prolonged or singular, that brings about a traumatic reaction. A key factor in any such event is an overriding sense of fear and hopelessness. The condition is known to the wider world through stories linked to war veterans. Men and women who have seen horrific things during service will, after the events, often years after, experience flashbacks, emotional triggers that will take them straight back to the horrific traumatic incident or incidents. Trauma, however, is not solely linked to war or other ‘cinematic’ events. A traumatic event is anything that was experienced by that person as traumatic, be it an earthquake, falling off a bike when young, sexual abuse or emotional neglect and abandonment. If an event or events occur in someone’s life that are experienced as traumatic, leading to feelings of hopelessness and terror and any overriding emotion that cannot be dispelled at the time, then that person has trauma in their lives. If this traumatic energy isn’t suitably discharged at the time then the heightened energy will remain in the body. If the energy isn’t dispelled it can remain in our system and over time can become intertwined in our neural pathways to formulate how we act and think in life. It can lead to anxiety, depression, co-dependent behaviours, addiction and so on. PTSD symptoms can include not eating, not sleeping, depersonalisation and derealisation, hyper vigilance, depression and suicidal tendencies. As my PTSD took hold I displayed all the symptoms. I stopped sleeping as a result of my hyper vigilance. I was terrified of going to sleep and equally terrified of waking up into a fresh day of terror. I stopped eating, stopped taking interest in any friends or hobbies or work. I began to isolate more. I couldn’t feel things or taste things. I would have scolding hot baths simply to feel. I had suicidal thoughts. I wanted to cut myself. I became terrified of seeing even closest friends. This was compounded by the fact that my depersonalisation meant I couldn’t emotionally connect with anything anyway. The protective mechanism in my brain said that the sensory overload was too much so it shut down any emotional feeling at all to save me from the pain. Essentially, I felt like the walking dead. It was extremely hard to comprehend myself, and even harder to relay to friends, that I was not primarily depressed or unhappy. In fact, a lot of the work I had previously done on myself meant I thought I was a brilliant person. I would often say to my EMDR therapist ‘I know I am brilliant! I just can’t feel it!’ I became terrified to leave the house, and when I lived in Hackney in a beautiful old square, I would walk half bent over around the square when I had to take the dog out. It must have been quite a sight. Such was my utter fear. During this process, I was diagnosed as bipolar. The medication came and was altered accordingly. I saw the best psychiatrist, a renowned and respected man who was sensitive to my situation. I realised during my treatment the effect the drugs had on my traumatic energy. What comes with PTSD is often very physical reactions - the jerking of the body, intense pins and needles in the hands or legs and even sudden shouts. Drugs didn’t and haven’t touched this. It became apparent to me that there was only so much medication could do. It also became apparent that PTSD is often misdiagnosed as bipolar as the characteristics are very similar. For my part, I don’t care about my diagnosis. In fact, I think the medication had probably helped me stay alive. That is not to discredit my own spirit, which is incredibly robust and determined. There were times, however, of deep despair and I believe the drugs took the edge off. What I have found fascinating is what they won’t do. I can say as a walking experiment that drugs will not cure the body of trauma-related energies, feelings and side effects thereof. Too often people are swamped with quick-fix prescriptive drugs that simply lack the capacity to take away these feelings. My God, if the drugs were out there I would have taken them. I am not pointing fingers or suggesting intentions are anything but good, but in my experience, drugs will not touch this kind of energy. We are so quick to try to treat the symptoms and not the cause. I experienced the repercussions of trauma from a young age, and this just played out throughout the rest of my life. I had always felt extreme anxiety and I simply manoeuvred into behaviours that allowed me to hide from this. It is a human instinct to move away from pain, to alienate oneself from the painful feelings and find quick solutions. It is in our basic DNA to survive. The problem is that with this instinct we split ourselves and move away from parts that must be healed. Will Young: Too often people are swamped with quick-fix prescriptive drugs Credit: TOM VAN SCHELVEN/TOM VAN SCHELVEN What I have learned is that body-based therapy works, although it isn’t easy. I don’t point fingers at the doctors when talking about medication; I also look to our desire to have a quick fix - to take the drugs rather than face the pain within. Ultimately I could not run away from that pain whatever my medication was - porn, alcohol, shopping and even the drugs prescribed to me. The pain of childhood trauma does not leave unless it is re-experienced through body therapy. I was brave enough and fortunate enough to see it through. Here in the UK, if we want to treat people with addictions and behavioural ‘disorders’, as they are known, let’s look to the true root of the problem. Trauma cannot be ignored. We need more education and more recognition that trauma is not simply for veterans or witnesses of a dramatic event. It’s for everyone. Ignore this at your peril, for understanding it is the solution to peace and contentment. Edited September 2, 20177 yr by truly talented
Create an account or sign in to comment