Will Mellor would 'pass out' from crying when his father disciplined him
Will Mellor has recalled how he used to "pass out" from crying when he was disciplined by his late father Bill.
Will Mellor used to "pass out" from crying when he was disciplined by his father.
The 50-year-old actor admits that he was left devastated when his late dad Bill lost his temper with him because he "didn't understand" his dad's rage.
Speaking on ITV's This Morning on Thursday (05.11.26), Will said: "As a kid I didn't understand it because I worshipped him. When he disciplined me, I used to cry a lot because I didn't understand it. I used to cry that much sometimes I'd pass out trying to get my breath and then he'd hit me for passing out. I didn't understand."
The Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps star now realises that his father's tough approach came from his desire to prevent his son from falling foul of the law in the way he did.
Will said: "In his mind, to prepare me for what he thought was going to be a tough life. He didn't want me to go down his road and end up in prison. He thought, 'Well if he's frightened of me, he won't mess about away from me.' It came from the right place.
"It was because he was so terrified of me becoming a rogue or a rebel and getting in trouble with the police. His way of bringing me up was a reflection of his own upbringing, he had a really tough upbringing. He loved me so much that he was scared that I would go off the rails."
The former Coronation Street actor also explained how his dad later regretted his tough love, which included waking his son up in the middle of the night and challenging him to a fight.
Mellor said: "He put me in the boxing ring and woke me up in the middle of the night and told me to fight him because he thought that would toughen me up. I wasn't built that way, I wanted to be a performer.
"When we got older, he did look back and reflect and say, 'I was probably too hard on you son.'"
Mellor details his relationship with his father in his new memoir Where There's a Will: My Story and he felt he reached the right time in his life to write the book after turning 50 earlier this year.
The Mr Bates vs The Post Office star said: "I've been asked to do a book before and I've always wanted to do one but I wanted to wait for the right time when I really had something to say.
"It's a long process doing the book and you really have to go back over a lot of things. It's been an unbelievable journey full of unbelievable moments, stories and sliding doors moments – not just in my career but in life.
"There's a lot of pain. There's a lot of things I've been through. There's a lot of stuff people don't know.
"It's like therapy doing a book. I wanted to do the book when I had something to say and that time was now."
