Rylan Clark has disclosed that he attempted to take his own life twice following the end of his marriage to Dan Neal in 2021. The 34-year-old presenter and broadcaster spoke candidly about his mental health struggles on the High Performance podcast, attributing his crisis not only to the split but also to nine years of relentless work without a break.
Clark, who rose to fame on The X Factor in 2012, admitted to being unfaithful to Neal “years ago” and confessed in May 2021, prompting Neal to end their six-year marriage. The pair briefly reconciled, but Neal left again after two weeks. Clark previously revealed he stopped eating and became “quite ill” after the separation.
He took a four-month hiatus from his BBC Radio 2 show and was hospitalised in January 2022 due to “dangerous” thoughts. On the podcast, he said: “For five months I just stopped and shut down. I tried to take my own life. I tried to do it twice.” He described the marriage ending as “the catalyst for the machine stopping,” but emphasised that years of non-stop work had left him unable to process his experiences.
Clark credited his “telly mum and dad,” Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford, with supporting him during his health battle, saying they were “frightened and shocked” by his deterioration. He met Neal while interviewing him on Big Brother's spin-off show; they married in 2015 and became the first gay couple to host This Morning in 2016.
In addition to his radio work, Clark has hosted programmes including Ready Steady Cook, Supermarket Sweep, and Strictly Come Dancing spin-off It Takes Two. If you have been affected by issues in this article, support is available from Samaritans on 116 123 or email [email protected].
