Rylan Clark open up about suicide attempt and stay in psychiatric hospital
Rylan Clark. (Getty)
TV and radio star Rylan Clark has spoken about a suicide attempt he made in 2021 after divorcing his ex-husband, Dan Neal, following six years of marriage.
Clark has previously opened up about the mental and physical toll his divorce took on him.
“I went through this period where I was annoyed that I’d wake up. All I could think about was, ‘How am I going to do this? How can I get out?’ It was sick,” he said in a new interview with The Sunday Times.
“I suppose it’s the easy way out, but I just could not see another way. I genuinely felt like the world was against me.”
He also spoke about two stays in a psychiatric hospital, and his recovery since then.
“It feels like a different person, now, that I’m talking about. I did not know who I was for that five months.”
During the same period, Clark also suffered from heart problems, and was rushed to hospital twice and needed his heart restarted.
Rylan Clark. (Getty)
“There were times my mum was genuinely concerned I had had a stroke,” he said at an event in London.
“My speech slurred, I couldn’t get any words out, it was like my body had shut down.”
He also spoke about struggling with mental health issues but says returning to work helped him recover.
“Sometimes wanting to be ready is more important than being ready and I’m glad I did that.
“When you are thrown in at that deep end you have to sink or swim and I thought, no-one is ruining my career. No-one is taking that away from me, I’ve worked too hard for it and I swam.”
Rylan has written about his career and personal life in new book Ten: The Decade That Changed My Future, reflecting on his time in the entertainment industry, his marriage and more.
Readers affected by the issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans free on 116 123 (www.samaritans.org) or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk). Readers in the US are encouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255.
