Will Young Quits Strictly Come Dancing 2016

In a statement posted to his website Will Young has announced that he is withdrawing from Strictly Come Dancing citing personal reasons. Will’s full statement is below:

“To be a part of Strictly has been a long time ambition of mine. As a performer, a viewer, and a fan of the show, to dance as a contestant was an experience I always hoped for. I have made some great friends, and am in awe of their performances week in, week out. I have found a creative partnership with Karen that has been the most wonderful thing to experience. I will be eternally grateful to her for her direction, talent and guiding me through three wonderful dances that I will be able to show my grandkids in years to come. 

Unfortunately, I am leaving the show for personal reasons. I leave with joy in my heart that I have been able to take part in one of the most loved shows on British television. I am so grateful to everyone who works on Strictly from the lighting designer to catering to the production team. Strictly truly is the most unique family and I thank them from the bottom of my heart. And finally thank you to the BBC for supporting me throughout my journey. I wish my compatriots so much luck, and although I am back to being a viewer again, I’m certainly going to ‘keeeep dancing’!”

The BBC press office have made a very brief statement:

“Due to personal reasons, Will Young has decided to withdraw from Strictly Come Dancing.
The show fully respects his decision and wishes him all the best for the future”

The BBC have also confirmed that there will still be an elimination over the weekend of 15/16 October and an elimination every week until the final which means we are very likely looking at a 3 couple final assuming no one else pulls out

Those of you on Facebook will be aware I was running a spot prize for when the judges made a pun about “leaving right now” or “not leaving right now” during their feedback to Will. Given Will’s withdrawal from the competition I will now be selecting one winner at random from all the entries to the competition and will announce a winner on Facebook in due course.

Will you miss Will? You can let me know in the comments or over on Facebook or Twitter

You can relive Will and Karen’s time on Strictly in the videos below: