Why sending Strictly’s Will Best home is the kindest option

Will Best had his best dance of this series of Strictly Come Dancing last night by far. 

Yet, he is the one I think should be going home this week. 

Just a few weeks ago I was writing my column about how he should make it to the final, and might even be the one to watch, but I have firmly changed my tune. 

That is because this week, Will got an even more important job than Strictly: His fiancée Tobi Rose gave birth to their first child, Sonny.  

I’m not a parent myself, so I can only imagine the joy and love that they’re both experiencing right now. 

I am delighted for them, but I am also extremely concerned by Will’s unrelenting work schedule, which seems to have barely let up at all. 

While he may have stepped back from presenting Hits Radio, he’s committed to Strictly and more. 

Last night, Will closed the show with a jive (arguably the highest-energy dance), and achieved his best score so far. 

Before bursting onto the dancefloor in a sequinned Elton John outfit for his Rocket Man inspired routine, we saw him speak about his new addition to pro partner Dianne Buswell, who welcomed her baby with Joe Sugg in March this year.
 
He broke down in tears as he told her: ‘You’re an inspiration. You are doing all of this, and you’ve got a baby, and you are clearly the most amazing mum, so I want to try and learn from you.’
 
But what they didn’t show on Strictly was that, not only has Will been in training for this jive, he’s also been hosting Big Brother.
 
On Friday night, he joined AJ Odudu for the live eviction until 10.30pm and was then up for Strictly at whatever god awful time the contestants have to be awake for on show day.
 
That is, if he even got any sleep at all with a newborn baby.

Emma Willis pulled out a miniature violin last night and joked: ‘I got Will this teeny, tiny violin, just in case I ever hear him complain about how tired he is after it was his fiancée that gave birth.’
 
It was perhaps her finest moment of the series, but while she’s absolutely right that there is no exhaustion that can possibly compare to that of a new mother, I do worry that Will has too much on his plate.
 
I’m sure he is being the best and most supportive partner and father possible but it’s no secret that having a newborn is all-consuming.

If any of my friends told me they were just going to keep on working on the biggest job of their career so far after having a baby, I would be gently coaxing them away and back to the newborn bubble. 

While, by law, a mother must take at least two weeks off work after giving birth, a father has no legal obligation to. 

Couldn’t Will have at least been granted one week off from both Strictly and Big Brother. Would either show really have crumbled without him?

Perhaps he was given that offer and turned it down – obviously I’m not privy to that information and nor should I be. 
 
I can see why Will may have thought he couldn’t walk away from Strictly. After years in television, he is undeniably having his long overdue ‘moment’.
 
Big Brother has never felt stronger since moving to ITV; I haven’t had this many conversations with fellow viewers since its heyday.  

And then he’s on primetime television every Saturday night and Strictly fans are loving him.  

He absolutely deserves this, and every door that is about to open for him. But couldn’t they have opened for him next year instead?  

If there was an award for most improved this series, Will would have won it last night. His jive was electric, so in sync with Dianne and every week he comes out on to that stage with a level of enthusiasm that I adore seeing as a long-time fan of the show.   

At this rate, I’m more and more confident he’s going to make it very far in the competition. But I worry that’s not even sustainable with a newborn baby.  

Perhaps the kindest thing for any Will Best fan to do is let him leave the contest now to be with his fiancée and Sonny. I still believe he would be able to ride the wave of post-Strictly success. 

That being said, I don’t think there’s a chance in hell he’s going to be in the dance off tonight. I can’t remember a moment when there was so much love for a contestant in the studio, which inevitably drips through the TV and into our homes, too.  

And he deserves it all, there’s no questioning that.  

Whatever happens in the ballroom, I hope the people around Will are making sure he gets proper time at home with Tobi and Sonny, and that if he ever decides he needs to step back, he’s given the grace to do that, too.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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