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Monday, May 29, 2017 8:41am ET by  

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Will Young considered breaking his leg to get out of 'Strictly Come Dancing'

British singer Will Young has admitted that he actually considered breaking his own leg as an excuse to withdraw from the TV show, Strictly Come Dancing.

The 'Leave Right Now' hitmaker abruptly quit the BBC programme in October 2016 due to "horrific" post traumatic stress disorder and he has now revealed the depths of his worries. Young - who developed a stammer and became fearful of going to the Strictly studio - shared:

"I was really ill. I was dragging myself to rehearsals. I just couldn't do it any more.

"It was so bad I thought - I'm not joking - I thought about breaking my leg."

The 38-year-old, ex-Pop Idol star admitted that his Strictly experience turned out to be be a nightmare, even though he was so excited at the outset. Young was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder while appearing in 'Cabaret' in London's West End in 2012 and it has even led him to feel suicidal. Since then, he has spent an enormous amount of money on three spells in therapy. He explained:

"It's really expensive. I've probably spent at least half a million quid on my therapy. I've spent at least £200,000 on treatment alone. I could afford it - most people can't. It makes me desperately sad."

The star opened up about his mental health struggles last year and confessed to London Live's London Real that he only really found out about PTSD after suffering a breakdown and realised the traits that defined it aligned closely with what he was experiencing:

"PTSD is a thing I learned about because I got it, I had a breakdown, after my fifth album, 'Echoes'. It was kind of the album I always wanted to do, and then I moved into this perfect house, and my life was perfect, and I was like, 'This could be pictured in Wallpaper magazine'."

"I was just at a loss, I had a number one album, top five single, and I thought 'Oh, this is not good, this is not going to be easy', and then just slowly began to unravel.”

He went onto add that he initially thought he was experiencing depersonalisation, but went to get help and was accurately diagnosed with PTSD.

Young insists that the connection he has with his fans and being able to perform saved his life. He said:

"It's completely spiritual, and that is something that is beautiful, and I'd go as far as to say that probably saved my life. Knowing that authenticity. That has pulled me through having PTSD, definitely."

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