Strictly star Will Mellor has revealed the sweet tribute he pays to his late dad in every performance.
The Hollyoaks and Coronation Street star’s dad, Bill, died in 2020 just two weeks after he was diagnosed with cancer.
Will, who dances with Nancy Xu on Strictly Come Dancing, has now revealed the touching way he honours his dad on the show.
Will Mellor on Strictly
Speaking to OK! Magazine, Will said: “I wear his ring every day for every performance. I always have a little moment with it before I go on and dance. It means he’s with me.
“He gave me the confidence to go and do this. When I was a kid he was always saying, ‘You can go and do it,’ and I came from somewhere where no-one did what I wanted to do.”
Will added: “I was from a working class family and I grew up on a council estate, but he and my mum made me believe in my dreams.”
Will Mellor on dad’s death
Will previously said that his “mindset completely changed” following his dad’s death.
Speaking to ED!, Will revealed he’d been asked to take part in Strictly before, but had refused.
He explained: “I have been asked before and it scared me.
I wear his ring every day for every performance. I always have a little moment with it before I go on and dance.
“I was worried incase it would have a negative impact on my acting career, or anything like that.
“But then I lost my dad in 2020 and my mindset completely changed.”
He added: “I just thought you’ve got to grab life. You’ve got to do things and say yes to more stuff and create memories and that really is what life’s about.
“You realise that when you start losing people. I just thought ‘what am I afraid of?'”
Last night (October 22), Will returned to the Strictly dancefloor to perform a Viennese Waltz to the Line Of Duty end titles.
The celebrities and their professional partners performed routines paying tribute to 100 years of the BBC.
This meant that some of them danced to iconic TV shows’ theme tunes.
Following a bad week last week because of his illness, Will seemed determined to get his scores back up.
And he did just that as he received all eights from the judges, meaning he bagged 32 points out of 40.
Will gushed: “Thank you, thank you very much. I’m very happy.”
But is he safe from the elimination?
Read more: Strictly star Will Mellor warned he’s in ‘danger zone’ this weekend as he’s dealt another blow
The Strictly Come Dancing results show airs on BBC One, tonight, from 6:45pm.
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