Strictly Come Dancing star Will Mellor has been impressing viewers with his incredible dance moves on the BBC show recently. But did you know that it was his father's tragic death that inspired him to sign up?
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Chatting to HELLO! and other journalists, the Two Pints of Lager actor revealed that losing his dad to cancer in 2020 changed his mindset and encouraged him to "grab life".
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"I have been asked [to do the show] before and it scared me," he explained. "Doing anything like this scared me. I was worried it would have a negative impact on my acting career and then I lost my dad in 2020 and my mindset completely changed.
"I just thought you've got to grab life. You've got to do things and I'm going to say yes to more stuff and create memories and that really is what life's about. And you realise that when you start losing people and that this is what life's about."
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He added: "I'd rather look back and think I'm glad I did that rather than I should have done that."
© Photo: RexWill with his father, Bill, in 2010
Will's father, Bill Mellor, died within two weeks of being diagnosed with cancer in 2020. Speaking on Loose Women shortly after his father's passing, he recalled the pain of not being able to hug his parents due to coronavirus restrictions.
"It just ripped us apart, especially in these circumstances. It's never a good time to lose somebody like that. I couldn't even hug him or hug my mum."
The Broadchurch actor also spoke about one of the last conversations he had with his dad during an episode of his podcast, Two Pints with Will & Ralf, which he shares with his Two Pints of Lager co-star Ralf Little.
© Photo: BBCWill is partnered with Nancy Xu on the show
"He sat in a chair outside the back door and I sat up the garden and I didn't hug him because of the coronavirus thing and he passed away without me doing that," he explained.
"He actually said to me 'If I got hold of you, I wouldn't be able to let go'. That was one of the last things he said to me and it absolutely killed me."
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