Rylan Clark has reflected on the lessons he learned while going through turbulent times in his personal life last year.
Following his split from his husband Dan Neal in 2021, Rylan took time out from the spotlight, recently revealing that he experienced a breakdown during this period.
Speaking to his friend Davina McCall on his Ry-union podcast, the presenter said he was “really in a bad way” during his downtime.
“It’s really strange, because lately I’ve been thinking about it,” he explained. “It was summer as well.
“Last summer was really hot and people were enjoying themselves and I had no phone. I wasn’t looking at my phone for any other purposes than one thing. I wasn’t looking at the news, I had no social media, I’d handed that all over to management. I saw nothing.
“In one respect, that was the best thing for me. In the same respect, I look back now and I do regret how I got, but I couldn’t help how I got.”
Rylan continued: “I wished I’d just gone to work. I wish I had the ability to go to work and try and distract myself from what was going on in my life, but I actually couldn’t.
“For every hour that passed, it got worse and worse and worse.”
Later in the interview, he spoke about what he learned about himself from that time.
“I never thought that something like that would ever happen to me, like that I’d mentally get so bad,” he admitted. “But now it has, it doesn’t scare me that it can happen again.
“It just makes me realise that I’m not invincible and, whatever life throws at you now, as hard as things might be, I’ve been there… once you’ve been there, you know you’ve got it in you to never let yourself go that far again because, ultimately, it is you. It is you that lets you go there.
“And as much as I’ll have my days where I feel shit, I then have to realise actually that, where I was was the worst place I could’ve been. And where I am now, even if I don’t feel amazing, it’s not there.”
Earlier this month, Rylan disclosed he was hospitalised following the breakdown of his marriage “for safety reasons”.
“Strange situations do very strange things to people. If it wasn’t for my mum, and my family and close friends I genuinely have no idea if I’d be here,” he said.
Since returning to work, Rylan has resumed hosting duties on his Radio 2 show, and co-presented the most recent series of Strictly Come Dancing spin-off It Takes Two with Janette Manrara.
He also started hosting the Ry-union podcast in November 2021. Listen to his full interview with Davina here.
Help and support:
- Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
- Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI - this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
- CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
- The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
- Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.