Rylan Clark has spoken candidly about the emotional breakdown he experienced following his divorce from Dan Neal in 2021. The former X Factor star and This Morning presenter revealed on his podcast How to Be in Love that he felt like a failure when news of the split became public.
Clark, who rose to fame after reaching the X Factor quarter-finals in 2012 and later won Celebrity Big Brother, said: 'When I went through my divorce, I had a full-on breakdown because it wasn't just us. I felt that everyone's going to think, 'Oh look, his life isn't perfect. Oh look, he's failed like that.' I just felt like a failure.' Despite the pain, he acknowledged that the separation was the 'right thing to happen.'
The couple first met in 2013 on the set of Big Brother's Bit on the Side, where Clark was a host and Neal was a contestant. They became engaged in 2014 and married in a lavish ceremony at Braxted Park Estate in Essex, attended by celebrities including Katie Price, Eamonn Holmes, and Ruth Langsford. After nearly six years of marriage, they announced their separation in June 2021.
Clark has previously discussed the trauma of the divorce in his memoir TEN: The Decade That Changed My Future, detailing the emotional and physical toll it took on him. He has also addressed speculation about a romantic relationship with his Strictly: It Takes Two co-presenter Rob Rinder, clarifying that they are close friends but not romantically involved.
Despite his personal struggles, Clark has continued to achieve professional success. His television series Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour won the 2025 British Academy Television Award for Best Factual Entertainment, and he remains a regular co-host on ITV's This Morning and presents Rylan on Saturday on BBC Radio 2.
