Rylan Clark has revealed he will be keeping his birthday celebrations low-key this year after a difficult week at home, with the presenter taking on an important role away from the microphone.
The BBC Radio 2 star, who turns 38 today, made the admission while chatting to Ellie Taylor on the station, where he also found himself the target of a cheeky birthday prank from his colleagues.
Birthday prank on air
Rylan was left questioning whether he could trust Ellie after spotting a card on the studio table ahead of his birthday on Monday. Explaining his suspicions, he said: "Because I've just seen a card on this studio table."
Ellie explained that the team had kindly bought him a card, prompting Rylan to open it live on air. Reading out the message, he said: "'Happy birthday!' And then you remember, like, the Now albums, it says, 'Now that's what I call old. Rylan, happy 50th! You're looking fly, daddy! From the whole team.'"
Insisting that he was still some way off the milestone, he added: "I'm 38 tomorrow." When Ellie questioned his age, Rylan joked: "I mean, some parts of my face are only three, four. No, we're doing all right."
Caring for Linda
However, the presenter admitted there would not be any extravagant celebrations to mark the occasion, explaining that his attention had been focused on his mum Linda, who has been unwell. "Not much. Actually, I'm not having, like, a big one or anything like that this birthday. I've been looking after Linda this week; she's been a bit poorly. Little bit poorly sick," he said.
Revealing his plans for the next couple of days, he continued: "So tonight, I'll probably have a little beverage. And then tomorrow, probably have, like, a little bit of lunch. And then, I'll be back to nursing duties. I feel like Florence Nightingale."
Hospital parking complaint
Rylan also took the opportunity to raise an issue he had encountered while caring for his mum, launching into a passionate complaint about parking at Harlow Hospital. "You know, as an Essexarian, can we just talk about how hard it is to park at Harlow Hospital, please?" he asked.
After Ellie admitted she was unfamiliar with the hospital, Rylan made clear that his recent visits had given him plenty of experience. "Well, I am now, right? I know every crack and crevice, and honestly, there's, like, eight car parks with, like, 40 spaces," he said, comparing the experience to a maze. He then called for a multi-storey car park to be built, joking that he was beginning a campaign to improve the situation.
Linda's recent accidents
His comments come after Linda, 74, recently returned to their regular radio chat following a break, during which she had scraped her leg in an accident. Speaking on his show, Rylan told listeners: "Mummy Linda is going to be back on the phone a bit later on. Hopefully she's alright. She scraped her leg the other day, so that's been fun. I'm just like, okay, yep, here we go, another issue, but I'm sure she'll be fine."
Linda later reassured him that she was fine, before telling her son: "You ain't got to tell everyone, thank you." Rylan subsequently described his mum as "a nightmare walking" as they discussed her history of accidents.
In January, Linda fractured her shoulder and suffered bruising after slipping on ice while taking the bins out. She also fell down an escalator at a retailer last year, requiring medical attention. Meanwhile, a holiday in Spain in 2023 ended with Linda breaking her arm and leg, meaning she needed to return to the UK on a medically equipped private jet.
