As fans come to terms with Will Young’s shock Strictly departure, reports are emerging which suggest that the singer may have grown “fed up” of his dance partner, Karen Clifton.

According to The Mirror, the Leave Right Now performer was struggling to deal with the workload placed on him by the dancer in the run-up to him quitting the show for “personal reasons”.

A source told the paper that the 37-year-old did not like being consistently scrutinised and as a result had “squabbled” with Karen last week during rehearsals for the show.

“Karen was just doing her job, she was training him hard but in the end he just didn’t want to keep getting told off and corrected all the time,” they said.

“It infuriated him. They squabbled a few times during rehearsals and it left him feeling exhausted. He just found the whole process too taxing and didn't think it was worth such a huge effort.”

However, the source’s claims run contrary to a statement released by the star himself on Tuesday.

When announcing he would be leaving the hit series, Will said: “I have found a creative partnership with Karen that has been the most wonderful thing to experience.”

“I will be eternally grateful to her for her direction, talent and guiding me through three wonderful dances that I will be able to show my grandkids in years to come.”

Feat image: Radio Times