The 'Leave Right Now' hitmaker is taking legal action against Horris Hill Prep school in Berkshire after he claimed that the 'appalling' experiences he had as a child left him with PTSD.
- Jun 17, 2023
AceShowbiz - Will Young is taking legal action against the "monsters" at his "very abusive" former school. The 44-year-old singer, who previously revealed he was left with PTSD because of the "appalling" experiences he had as a child, didn't give specific details about the "big civil legal case" he is involved in against Horris Hill Prep school in Berkshire, but admitted the allegations centre around "physical abuse."
He told the Daily Mail newspaper's Weekend magazine, "Singing has always been so personal to me, maybe it's a vulnerability thing. Singing has always been a little escape, since being at a very abusive boarding school, with whom I am now involved in a big civil legal case, with other people. That's ongoing."
Asked if he can talk about the legal action, he said, "I think I can say I'm in legal proceedings concerning physical abuse, what the school knew about that and a particular person. I was surrounded by monsters. When it does go to court you'll know exactly what happened, but I can tell you what I saw, which was children being punched in the stomach, thrown down stairs, heads banged against radiators. My brother was lifted up by his throat and shoved against a bookcase in the library by a teacher. This place was not normal."
The "Leave Right Now" hitmaker found solace in music during his difficult school days. He said, "Singing was a refuge for me. We weren't allowed music but I'd sneak in a Walkman and go into the woods and listen to music. It's always been very important to me. You've got it wherever you are. I can sing anywhere. Maybe I feel that singing is just for me."
Will previously claimed 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."
