Leave Right Now: Pop Idol legend Will Young claims Adele got ‘suspended’ from school after she punched a Gareth Gates voter

Will Young claims Adele got “suspended” from school after she punched a Gareth Gates voter.

The two singers were locked in an intense battle to be crowned winner of the inaugural series of the ITV talent contest Pop Idol in 2002, with Will, 47,  ultimately beating Anyone of Us (Stupid Mistake) hitmaker

Gareth, 42, to it. Fans of the pair took the rivalry extremely seriously, with Grammy winner Adele, 38, going as far as to land herself in serious trouble at school.

Will told Official Charts: “Adele got suspended for standing up for me because people were voting for Gareth,” Will tells Official Charts, recalling the fierce rivalry between his supporters and those backing runner-up Gareth Gates.

“She punched a girl. Got suspended from school. Did you know that?”

Elsewhere, Will confessed he wasn’t always a big fan of his biggest hit, Leave Right Now.

He told the outlet: “I didn’t like it at all when I first heard it.

“I didn’t want to do that kind of song. I’d done Evergreen, I’d done The Long and Winding Road, You and I. I just didn’t want to do a ballad.”

He preferred soulful songs like Your Game and Friday’s Child over the big ballads.

He said: “I just thought, no, it’s going to be so boring to come back with a ballad.”

However, producer Stephen Lipson and manager Simon Fuller persuaded him to go with it and he felt it improved once the strings were added.

The singer is preparing to mark a major milestone in his career. The singer has announced a new UK tour celebrating 25 years since his Pop Idol victory, recently unveiling a 16-date run titled The Evergreen 25th Anniversary Tour.

The shows will take place across February and March 2027, with Will performing with his full band and revisiting hits from across his two-decade career.

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