Will Young reveals music bosses tried to make him kiss George Michael
Popstar Will Young has revealed a plot by record label bosses for him to get with George Michael.
The 38-year-old, who was the first winner of Pop Idol, says his management tried to engineer a kiss.
Young says bosses wanted to him recreate the famous moment when Madonna and Britney Spears smooched at the 2003 MTV awards.
However he rejected the request – saying it made him “angry”.
He said: “You know what I was really conscious of?
“People taking me as a gay man and bringing it just back to sex.
“Someone at the record company, to try to get me on the Brits, suggested, ‘Why don’t you do a duet with George Michael and then, like Britney and Madonna and Christina Aguilera and Madonna, you kiss at the end and we get our moment?’
“God that makes me angry.”
The singer also revealed he refused to publicly kiss a man for his 2006 hit record All Time Love.
He now regrets the decision, however, explaining in his new podcast Homo Sapiens: “I remember years ago, I’d probably left T4 or something like that, and was off to a premiere, it was for the song ‘All Time Love’ and they said, ‘What do you feel about kissing a man on the lips in the video?’
“I actually rang up my mum and dad, and they were both like ‘Yeah, f**k it, do it’.
“But I didn’t do it, everyone agreed no, but actually that was only because I was thinking of my career.
“Do the maths – how many people want to see a man kiss a man, in comparison to how many people don’t? More people don’t. But now I slightly regret it.”
The former Strictly Come Dancing recently launched his new LGBT podcast with longtime friend Chris Sweeney.
The pair said: “As ‘Woman’s Hour’ super-fans, we adored the 70th anniversary celebrations late last year.
“The presenters were looking back at how their programme started and how pioneering it was to show current affairs from a female perspective – this sparked a conversation between us about the LGBTQ+ community and how great it would be to have a similar voice.
“It was a real lightbulb moment and the idea of ‘Homo Sapiens’ was born!
“Through recording this podcast, we’ve had a lot of fun, drunk a lot of tea, and learned a huge amount from some of the bravest, most intelligent and fun people who have paved the way for all LGBTQ+ people.”
