The turning point came when he and Gary were cast as Reggie and Ronnie in the 1990 film The Krays. Maybe it was the fact they played twins; maybe it was the way Anna Scher, who had taught them drama as children, got them crawling around the floor in a refresher session, pretending to be preschoolers, but something about the experience “equalised” them. If you, or someone you love, is experiencing suicidal thoughts, it’s important to seek help and remember that with the right treatment and support, the majority of people who have felt suicidal will go on to live fulfilling lives.”

Darvill, Josh (1 July 2016). "Roman Kemp joins The X Factor and Xtra Factor as new presenter". Tellymix . Retrieved 6 July 2016.Tony is lovely,” he says. “He is a lovely man. I will always, always love him, in the same way I love all the rest of the band. But you drift apart, don’t you?” The 30-year-old, who has hosted his own breakfast show on the radio station since 2017, lost his colleague to suicide in August 2020, aged 31. In 2021, Roman presented a BBC Three documentary exploring the mental health crisis facing young men and revealed he had considered taking his own life after battling depression for more than a decade. In 2020, Kemp co-hosted a Sunday morning programme with his father, titled Martin & Roman's Sunday Best! on ITV from 14 June 2020. [20] On 19 November 2020, Kemp featured as a guest panellist on the ITV Daytime show Loose Women and was part of the first all male panel in the show's 21-year history. [21] In March 2021, Kemp presented a documentary on BBC Three, Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency, exploring the mental health and suicide crisis affecting young men. His friend, producer Joe Lyons, killed himself in August 2020. [22] Roman is clearly living a highly privileged life and I don't begrudge him that. That being said it doesn't put him in a good position to write a book on the subject of mental health for the masses. Possibly the best part of the book I read was that in which he shares his experiences of his friend and colleague dying by suicide. This is real and an experience that cuts across class divides. That being so folk in Roman's position are very much better equipped to cope with loss since access to mental health support in the UK and much of the world depends, to a large extent, on how wealthy you are. Roman simply can't speak to the experiences that the majority of those struggling with mental health face and as such the book perpetuates the narrative that if we all just got our mates talking a bit more or went for an extra walk everything would be alright. Boot Dreams: Now or Never – meet the players, presenter Roman Kemp and head coach Gifton Noel-Williams". www.bbc.co.uk.

The book is at its best when Roman is being open about the mental health issues that he has faced, particularly about how he has coped with chemical depression. Capital DJ Roman Kemp has achieved much success but he hasn?t had an easy ride. He?s battled depression since the age of 15, once contemplated suicide, and has bravely fought to smash the stigma still surrounding medication and mental health. Harp, Justin (11 November 2019). "I'm a Celebrity cast confirmed as Caitlyn Jenner, Ian Wright and more join". Digital Spy . Retrieved 11 November 2019. Mind’s Get It Off Your Chest report, commissioned in partnership with the English Football League, showed men’s help-seeking behaviour and their ability to speak openly about their mental health has improved to a degree over the last decade. However, the report also revealed that 45 per cent of men say they feel worried or low more regularly than ten years ago, and are consequently twice as likely to feel suicidal. If you feel someone might be in immediate danger, call 999, advises Laura Peters, head of advice and information at Rethink Mental Illness. “Samaritans are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week on 116 123. It’s also advisable to go and see your GP, they will be able to identify support that’s local to you.”Foster, Alistair (18 August 2017). "Roman Kemp says celebrity radio guests don't faze him after his childhood". www.standard.co.uk . Retrieved 4 April 2021. Painful. Difficult. Confronting. Hopeful. Optimistic. Promising. Empowering. This is all things in spades and a must-read for everyone. Books like these, potential lifesavers. That's what counts. Therefore, by sharing experiences and highlighting what support is available, we can help others feel less alone, challenge stigma and encourage honest and open conversations. They might need to set aside a few hours, because Gary features quite heavily. “I love Gary dearly,” Kemp says. He has a habit of reaching for an affirmation, especially a loving one, after saying something hard. Now that he is mostly playing himself – in books, and in all those reality TV shows and presenting roles – he feels much better about being recognised. With the band he used to feel he was “never putting enough of me into it”. “Now it’s different,” he says. “Someone sees me and waves, that’s great. Am I coming into my own? I think I’m a lot more relaxed about life.”

There was verbal abuse, too. “If you imagine five boys in the playground, there’s always going to be one guy that’s going to take the brunt of the jokes.” In Spandau Ballet, Kemp says, that guy was the lead singer, Tony Hadley. Roman is so open and honest in this, even about stuff you wouldn’t necessarily talk to anyone about, and now he’s told thousands of people. It’s very refreshing to read.Strictly Come Dancing, Gogglebox and Ant and Dec win at 2022 TRIC Awards | Virgin Radio UK". virginradio.co.uk. 6 July 2022 . Retrieved 1 February 2023. a b Cherrington-Cook, Jayne (6 November 2019). "Capital FM DJ's surprising birth story revealed by dad". Yahoo . Retrieved 15 January 2023. Spandau Ballet at Live Aid in 1985 … (from left) Martin Kemp, Gary Kemp and Tony Hadley. Photograph: Pete Still/Redferns You would call it dysfunctional, except “it really worked”, he says. “It was easy for me and Gary. We loved each other underneath all of it. We could forget about it because we’d been doing it all our lives.” From April 2021, Kemp and his father Martin Kemp are presenting Martin & Roman's Weekend Best!; a spin-off of Martin & Roman's Sunday Best!. [23]

I really appreciate his honest in every area but particularly about his upbringing. He’s aware that he’s had a privileged life that not everyone has and I really like how he’s been honest about the positives and negatives of that fact, without sounding spoilt or patronising. It’s a nice balance. This book really doesn't know what it wants to be. The cover and particularly the title leads oneself to believe that you're going to get at the very least something substantial on mental health. The reality is the contents (or at least the first two thirds of it, I'll get to why I didn't finish it) consist of some basic discussion of the topic but I actually felt the effectiveness of even this was undermined by the way in which the author switches to discussion of random things that have happened in his life, many of which being subjectively amazing experiences many could only dream of. I just hope that by talking openly and honestly about my life, other young guys like me, guys like the ones you might know, and live with and love, might realise it’s OK to speak out about how they really feel.”I wanted my dad to say: “You can’t go out like that,” but he never did. Not once.’ Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian