Heartbreaking decision Will Young made to try to save brother after suicide bid

Will Young and brother Rupert shared an amazingly close bond - but the singer had to make a devastating decision to save his twin.

Rupert, who has born just 10 minutes after Will, was diagnosed with depressive mood disorder dysthymia in 2005 and battled mental health issues from a young age.

On Monday, it was confirmed that Rupert had tragically died at the age of 41, with grieving Will said to "utterly devastated".

A spokesperson for the singer confirmed Rupert's passing and explained it was a "very difficult and sad time" for the family.

In a heartbreakingly candid interview in 2008, Will bravely opened up on his brother's struggles with depression, addiction and recovery.

During his rise to fame on Pop Idol in 2002, Will was secretly helping to save Rupert amid a distressing suicide bid.

Rupert admitted to struggling to live in his famous twin brother's shadow and used Will's success as an excuse to drink.

During Pop Idol, Rupert tried to take his own life and was taken to hospital after being found bleeding at the bottom of a stairwell in a block of flats.

Rupert discharged himself from hospital the following day and hid his ordeal from his family.

Realising he needed to help his brother, Will kindly helped get him a job as an assistant floor manager.

But he left the role soon after due to his struggles with alcohol and attempted suicide once again, and despite seeing many top doctors and psychiatrists his depression wasn't diagnosed.

Rupert bravely discussed his battles with booze in 2008, revealing he was in and out of hospital 'more than ten times' as he slipped further into the grips of addition.

"I woke up one morning and turned on the TV. There was William on Richard & Judy, giving the most amazing performance of one of his songs," he told The Telegraph.

"I had spent the night before drinking with tramps in a car park and cutting myself. It seemed bizarre to me that two people who are genetically the same could behave in such different ways.

"I realised that something had gone very wrong. But I didn't know what, or why, and nor did anyone else."

Realising there were no other options left, Will had to make one of the toughest decision of his entire life.

The Pop Idol winner and his family decided, like many families dealing with an alcoholic relative, that their only choice to make things better was to walk away.

"It was the family stepping away that actually got him better," Will bravely confessed to the Daily Record in 2008.

"It's very tough having a family member who is an addict. But when you're dealing with that you eventually have to just stop and look after yourself.

"Me, my parents, my older sister, everyone. We all just had to walk away. We had to leave him."

This proved to be horrendously hard for Will, who was desperate to see his brother but realised it would do more harm than good.

"There was a moment I remember, when I had to go to some awards thing. I had an album out, I was in a film and I was having a great time professionally," explained Will.

"I had to drive past the train station, and I knew that he'd been there for a day, just drinking.

"But I knew I had to leave him alone. That was tough, of course it was, but you have to get on. And in that respect being so involved in work was a great thing.

"Otherwise I would have just stopped and it would have got on top of me much more. It was very tricky."

Rupert himself revealed that he would spend night trying to convince tramps at the station to come back to his flat to carry on drinking.

While enjoying a successful career, starring in films and performing with the greats, Will was not impervious to his brother's pain.

"It was very tricky," he told the Daily Record. "I was in America when he tried to kill himself and that was very hard. I was so upset about that, and felt so very far away from my family.

"I wrote a song about it. It was quite good, actually, but I've never put it on an album. It's one of those things that I'll keep for myself."

In the summer of 2005, Rupert realised he needed to get clean and enrolled in a 40-day programme at the Sierra Tucson treatment centre in the Arizona desert.

For the first time he was diagnosed with with dysthymia, a depressive mood disorder, which stemmed from his childhood.

Rupert wanted to give back and raise awareness so established The Mood Foundation, a mental health charity promoting alternative therapies which Will is also focused on.

While Rupert was on the road to recovery, Will had to battle his own demons, admitting it was easier to care for his twin than it was to look after himself.

"I had always been the one sorting my brother out, and it was easier to do that than actually look at myself," he told the Mirror in 2016.

“I had thought I was coping well... but I became scared about going out and meeting people. I was going into loony, reclusive-pop-star mode.”

Speaking about his health in the past, Will explained he believes that many issues stemmed from being separated from Rupert at birth.

Born six weeks premature, Will and his brother were given special medical help moments after delivery.

The singer explained that his twin brother being taken away and put into an incubator to treat pneumonia led to trauma.

"I think that created a nervous system that was on edge, and understandably so," he said. to Times Magazine.

"Trauma lies beneath 99.9% of addictions."

On Monday night came the devastating confirmation that Rupert had sadly passed away.

Circumstances surrounding Rupert's death remain unclear, though a spokesperson for the Young family said they have been left wracked by grief over their loss.

A friend told The Sun : "Will’s relationship with Rupert had been tough over the years at times, and they had both spoken about the mental health problems which had made it challenging.

“But there were hopes he had turned a corner and they are a very loving family - and utterly devastated by his passing.”

A spokeswoman for Will said on Monday evening: "I can confirm that Will’s brother has very sadly passed away.

"We would like to request privacy for Will and his family during this very difficult and sad time."

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