Strictly Come Dancing star Will Mellor has endured a lot of personal grief and heartache, losing several close family members in tragic circumstances. The Hollyoaks actor went through heartache when he lost his sister in 2012 before recently losing his dad to cancer. He has also been open about his battle with depression, which forced him out of work for six months. When he appeared on Strictly as a celebrity contestant, he gave an emotional shoutout to his mother after one of his performances.
He explained, "To put a smile on her face with what she's been through, she's an unbelievable woman, I'm so happy she's here tonight." Will's family has suffered plenty of losses over the years. His father, Bill, tragically died after being diagnosed with brain cancer at the start of the pandemic.
His dad was diagnosed with brain cancer and sadly passed away two weeks later when restrictions were in place. Will's aunt and uncle, George and Pat, were subsequently killed by the same type of cancer within days of each other just 12 months later. Back in 2012, Will's older sister died suddenly from heart failure aged just 44 at the time. Joanne - who was born with Marfan’s syndrome - and her unexpected death left a huge gap in Will's life.
Speaking on White Wine Question Time podcast, the actor said that his sister's death sparked a downward spiral for him: "I went a bit downhill, and I drank too much. I got into gambling a bit and just chasing highs as you do, you know? I was a bit depressed, and I didn't know it.” “Everything revolved around Joanne,” he told The Mirror. “We’ve always been close as a family, but we all saw more of each other than we probably would have done because of her. She was the glue that kept us all together.”
Speaking about losing his dad in 2020, Will recalled that he didn't hug his father when saying goodbye as they were social distancing: "The one regret I've got is going up there to see him, and because I had to social distance I had to go and stand in the garden and wasn't even allowed in the house but there was no way I wasn't going to see my dad. I drove up on my own and went to the garden. He sat in a chair outside the back door and I was sat on the other side of the garden and I didn't hug him because of the coronavirus."
Following the loss of his aunt and uncle, this also sparked more grief and trauma for Will. Just a few weeks later his mum suffered a stroke. According to The Mirror, Will said: "I nearly collapsed. I just went cold. The cloud came in. "I had to take a little break away to reorganise my head. I said 'I'll build a bar in my garden in the name of my dad for something to do' but I couldn't see properly. My eyes and everything were going funny. I thought it could be due to stress. Thankfully Mum’s going to be OK. It's classed as a mini stroke." The 48-year-old then signed up for Strictly to honor his parents and said it was the "right time."
If you have been affected by this story, Samaritans are open 24/7 for anyone who needs to talk. You can visit some Samaritans branches in person. Samaritans also have a Welsh Language Line on 0808 164 0123 (7pm–11pm every day).
