Roman Kemp didn’t set out to become a mental health campaigner. Just two years ago, he was best known as the friendly, effusive presenter of Capital FM’s hugely popular breakfast show, as well as a finalist in ITV’s I’m A Celebrity.
All that changed in August 2020, when his best friend and the producer of his radio show, Joe Lyons, took his own life. Lyons’ suicide was a deeply shocking event, which left Kemp and his friends bereft and searching for answers. There had been no clues that Lyons was suffering. He did not speak with any of his friends or family about how he felt.
In those raw months after his death, Kemp made for BBC Three, an urgent and unflinching documentary exploring male suicide and the seeming inability of men,