Will Young: Losing My Twin Rupert is an unflinching portrait of 20 years of sadness
Will Young with his late twin, Rupert
The family sifts through childhood photos and marvels at the happiness. “Carefree … Look at your little tummies,” says his mother. His father feels the need to put them away. “So much waste. So much joy, so much potential … Such a waste that he’s gone now.” They are the parents of the singer Will Young, who found fame in 2002 as the charming and worthy winner of Pop Idol, and his twin, Rupert. They are looking through photos of the boys as part of a moving documentary about Rupert, who killed himself last year after enduring anxiety, depression and alcoholism for more than 20 years.
Will Young: Losing My Twin Rupert (Channel 4) is a rare beast: a celebrity documentary that has an articulate subject, an affecting story and a sense of mission. Often, films in this genre induce an uncomfortable sense that the makers are exploiting grief, or that the celebrity is in need of cash or a kind person to tell them that some pain is best worked through behind closed doors.
