Rylan Clark
(Picture: Lia Toby/PA)Rylan Clark has said he tried to end his life twice following the breakdown of his marriage.
The presenter, 34, split from Dan Neal in 2021 following six years of marriage after admitting he had been unfaithful to him “years ago” but only decided to tell him in May of that same year.
The admission caused the former police officer to end their relationship and while the pair did attempt to give their marriage another go, Neal ultimately left again after just two weeks.
Previously, Clark admitted that he got “quite ill” and even stopped eating following the end of his relationship.
He took a four-month break from his BBC Radio 2 show and revealed last January that he was hospitalised after “dangerous” thoughts crept in following his divorce.
While his mental health was impacted due to his split, the TV star has now explained that it was both the state of his personal life and working non-stop for nine years that led him to contemplate ending his life.
Reflecting on the difficult period of his life, the broadcaster candidly shared on the High Performance podcast: “I think my marriage ending was the catalyst for the machine stopping.
“But actually, it was nine years of never stopping and never having time to breathe and actually understand what happened to me.
“For five months I just stopped and shut down. I tried to take my own life. I tried to do it twice.”
The star, who first became a household name after his appearance on the X-Factor in 2012, previously revealed he turned to his “telly mum and dad” Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford amid his health battle.
He told The Sun last year that they were left “frightened and shocked” when his mental health deteriorated in the aftermath of the split.
The X Factor star first met his former policeman ex while interviewing him on the spin-off show for Big Brother as he was a contestant on the show.
They married two years later and went on to become the first gay couple to host This Morning in 2016.
Clark’s career has also seen him host Ready Steady Cook, Supermarket Sweep and Strictly spin-off It Takes Two, alongside many other TV appearances.
