Will Young ‘kept quiet’ about school trauma to avoid upsetting his parents

Will Young “kept quiet” about his traumatic experiences at boarding school because he didn’t want to upset his parents.

The 43-year-old singer revealed last year he was left with PTSD because of the “appalling” experiences he had as a child and he’s now acknowledged he felt pressured not to confide in his mother and father because he was constantly told how “fortunate” he was to be there as a result of his parents’ hard work.

Speaking to Times Radio, he said: “One of the things about when you’re a child is you can often… I felt very fortunate, ironically, to be sent to the school. My parents actually didn’t have a lot of money at the time. We were there on a deal.

“And so the messaging coming – and this often happens when people are in abusive situations – is that you’re very fortunate to be in that situation. So you keep shtum. What that can lead to is survivor’s guilt. People feeling, ‘Well, I could have done more.’ But of course you can’t as a child.

“‘Now, if my parents had known, they would have taken me out of that school in two seconds. But you know, the messaging coming across from the school and from people around was, ‘Aren’t your parents working hard? You know, to send you.’

“‘My dad just set up his business. It was a recession in 87. You know, ‘Aren’t they working so hard?’ So you keep quiet as a child, Absolutely.”

The ‘Leave Right Now’ hitmaker claimed last year staff at the school would throw children “against radiators”, watch them getting changed, and rip out the only phone they had to communicate with their guardians.

He said: “We weren’t allowed to wear pants under our football shorts, so my d**k used to fall out of my football shorts when I got tackled. Less washing.

“I saw kids being made to change on the football pitch because they had worn pants. Teachers looking at our penises in the shower, in the bath.’

“It was appalling. That’s why I’ve got PTSD. There was such a sense of injustice from things that I experienced and witnessed. I think I escaped – not that it didn’t damage me.”