Entertainment
Roman Kemp ‘feared’ talking to dad Martin about mental health following revelation about suicidal feelings
Roman Kemp has spoken about his struggles with mental health, after revealing that he considered suicide at this lowest point.
The presenter has collaborated with the BBC for a new documentary Our Silent Emergency, which sees him learn more about the suicide crisis affecting young men in the UK.
During one scene in the new film, Roman spoke about the time he seriously considered jumping in front of a train. He also opens up about being diagnosed with clinical depression at the age of 15, and being subscribed antidepressants.
The film comes following the sudden and unexpected death of his best friend, radio producer Joe Lyons, and prompted Roman open up about his own issues in public for the first time.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk and other press, Roman said he was ‘absolutely terrified’ to open up about mental health going into the documentary, and that it was something he had never spoken to his dad, Martin Kemp, about before.
‘It’s something that I’ve never truly opened up even to my dad about. Just out of fear that he wouldn’t understand that. It’s always a relationship I’ve had with my mom,’ he said.
Roman’s mum, Wham! singer Shirlie Holliman, has helped him with his mental health from an early age.
‘The ups and downs with my mental health have been going on for the last 12 years. There are points where I need my mom to pull me out and talk to me. She does that. I’ve got a lot better at it now. My mom saved my life, I know it,’ he said.
‘She made me open up so much as a kid, and made me talk to her and forced me to tell her how I was feeling. One of the things I always used to try and describe to her I was, it’s like my brains beating me up. I compared it to Mike Tyson. I was like, “I’m going 12 rounds in my brain with Mike Tyson”. I think people are not giving kids those lessons so that when they enter that fight, they know what to do.’
He added: ‘I’ve taken antidepressants since I was 15 and I’ve always been on them. They’ve helped me with a chemical imbalance that I have in my body. That’s been my kind of coping mechanism.
‘As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten more into therapy. My parents were very open with me about how they went to therapy. When my dad had his brain tumor therapy, he said it saved his life. I do firmly believe that I think therapy isn’t something to be scared of. It’s something that helps you answer the questions that you want to know.’
As well as talking about his experiences with friend Joe and visiting his family, the new film sees Roman talk to people who have attempted to take their own lives, as well as meeting NHS staff on the front lines taking mental health crisis calls. It also seems him talk to his dad about the subject for the first time.
‘Every day that I went filming it, I was almost wishing that I wasn’t having to do it. And that was the hardest thing,’ Roman said about the documentary.
‘For me, what you’re watching is my therapy with this whole thing. You’re watching me regain the love that I have for my friend, because I now am at a place where I understand a little bit more about what someone must be going through.’
Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency airs on Tuesday at 9pm on BBC One.
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