The '21st Century Liability' star gets emotional as he sits down in a new interview to talk about the impact his parents' tumultuous relationship had on him.
- November 20, 2022
AceShowbiz - YUNGBLUD has opened up his childhood was scarred by his parents' "abusive" relationship. Growing up in Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England with dad Justin and mum Samantha and two younger sisters, the 25-year-old singer - whose real name is Dominic Harrison - says the couple's explosive rows and trouble stemming from the family's guitar shop made him miserable.
"My parents had this weird, beautifully dark relationship where I don't know if I've ever seen two people love each other as much as they have, but I don't think I've seen anybody hurt each other as much," the musician explained when speaking to Louis Theroux on his new BBC series "Louis Theroux Interviews...".
"It was physically and mentally and emotionally abusive. I've always wanted to build a world where I could exist to escape what was going on around me."
His parents feature on the show alongside their son and Justin said of the rows with Samantha, "We did shout at each other, you know, excessively. I had anger issues and I'm still going for therapy every week. The last few years I've been a lot calmer but obviously I needed therapy to control anger bursts and that's what I did."
Samantha added, "When we first met we were 16. You fancy the pants off each other. You don't necessarily respect each other. I'm not trying to justify it but our neutral position is probably one of disrespect and youth and passion and we need to shout loudest and we need to get our own way. We went to counselling for quite a few years and I think we learned to respect each other."
She went on to say she felt "quote guilty" after reading interviews her son had given about his childhood and the singer broke down in tears as he admitted the family have yet to properly work through all their issues together. He added, "It freaks me out. It's rough. I just think we haven't resolved a lot of stuff together yet."
However, he insisted he loves his family and says was also able to channel his anguish into his music while Justin concluded, "I think our family is very close to say what we've been through."
