Saturday, 7 March 2009

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Will Young: Depression made me cry

Pop Idol winner had a hard time

Will Young won Pop Idol in 2002

Will Young struggled with depression after he first found fame.

The singer's twin brother Rupert went through a rough patch in 2004 and Will used his sibling's troubles to keep his mind off his own problems.

'Everyone was thinking, "William is fine,"' he says. 'And actually quite often William wasn't fine,' he explains.

'Rupert was a distraction for me. because I could play the role of the older brother who always turned up being very calm and composed.

'When he started getting better I had my worst period of depression. Because suddenly I wasn't looking after someone else.

'I went to South Africa on tour, and I was crying constantly.'

Will, 30, has now resolved his issues with the help of a therapist and self-esteem courses.

'You fall into the blackness and you can't see any light at all,' he tells the Telegraph Magazine. 'Your body starts shutting down, and it's hard to get out of bed.

'It's just complete self-loathing. The things you say to yourself, you'd never say to your worst enemy...

'But I haven't had a bad patch for over a year.'

Preeti Das