Roman Kemp has revealed the moment his sister changed the trajectory of his life with a simple phone call.
The son of musician Martin Kemp is currently on the third season of Celebrity Race Across the World, a BBC series that takes celebs out of their comfort zones and places them in a high-stakes battle to go on the ultimate adventure around the world.
This year, Roman and his sister Harley Moon have been attempting the race - which started in Isla Mujeres, Mexico and will finish in the Península de La Guajira, Colombia - and in one quiet moment, the former Capital One presenter became emotional as he shared the time she unknowingly saved his life.
The 32-year-old has been very honest about his battle with depression, anxiety and PTSD, and has been an advocate for men’s mental health.
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With documentaries like Our Silent Emergency and The Fight for Young Lives, Roman has opened up about his own mental wellbeing, and that of his best friend and former Capital FM producer, Joe Lyons, who sadly committed suicide in 2020.
This death is what led to Roman quitting his post at the show last year after a decade, largely due to the fact he found out the news while on air and having to ‘re-live’ it every time he was in the room.
On Thursday's (4 December) episode, he revealed the one ‘really bad night’ where his mum, Shirlie, and sister were on the phone with him may have been the only things to keep him here.
He told the camera: “It was a bad time in my life. I remember one moment in particular where it was really bad.
“I just remember my mum passing the phone to Harley and Harley trying to just talk to me, just to distract me and keep me on the phone so that my mum could get in the car and drive to me.”
Roman became visibly emotional as he shared his story, explaining how he hasn’t spoken about that moment with his sister.
”I don’t know if I ever have actually spoken to Harley about that call. What I do know is that the conversation between my mum and Harley might have saved my life on that day," he shared.
But on camera during the Colombian leg of the race, Roman and Harley finally had that conversation.
"I can’t even remember what the conversation was, but I knew that I was safe if I stayed on the phone," Roman told his sister as she embraced him.
"And I feel bad because I never really said thanks for that."
Viewers at home were touched by the scene and praised Roman for opening up about his mental health.
"Huge respect to Roman Kemp for opening up about his Mental Health on Celebrity Race Across The World tonight. It’s ok to not be ok and it’s so refreshing to see him show vulnerability," said one.
Another wrote: "Roman Kemp, you just speaking about how low you have been tonight may make a difference to someone else to have the conversation that help is always there!
"Hope you are doing ok."
Celebrity Race Across the World airs every week on BBC One.
Topics: BBC, Mental Health, Roman Kemp, UK News, Celebrity
Britt Jones