Strictly Come Dancing’s Will Mellor shares how he pays tribute to late father in every dance

‘I lost my dad in 2020 and my mindset completely changed,’ actor explained

Strictly Come Dancingstar Will Mellor has shared how he secretly pays tribute to his late father during his performances.

The Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps actor was inspired to go on the show after his father passed away from cancer two years ago.

In a new interview with OK!, Mellor said that he carried a piece of his dad with him during every dance.

“I wear his ring every day for every performance,” Mellor said. “I always have a little moment with it before I go on and dance. It means he’s with me.”

The actor shared that he had been asked to take part in Strictly before but had said no due to fearing it would negatively impact his acting career.

However, following the sudden death of his father, he decided to take on more opportunities.

“I lost my dad in 2020 and my mindset completely changed,” said Mellor, 46, who is a favourite to win the series. “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. I’d rather look back and think I’m glad I did that rather than I should have done that,” he added.

Mellor and partner Nancy Xu on ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ (BBC/Guy Levy)

On Saturday (8 October), Mellor wowed audiences during his performance alongside professional dancing partner Nancy Xu.

The pair danced an American Smooth to Dirty Dancing track “Cry to Me” and received a score of 33 from the judges. You can find the full week three leaderboard here.

After his performance, Mellor gave a speech to his mother who was in the audience, saying: “You don’t know what she’s been through. She’s an unbelievable woman.

“I’m so happy she’s here tonight. She’s everything to me. My mum is the world. If she’s happy, I’m happy.”

In week five, Mellor danced a Viennese Waltz to the closing credits theme from Line of Duty, ending on 32 points.

Strictly Come Dancing continues Saturday 29 October at 6.50pm on BBC One.