Rylan Clark attends the Virgin Atlantic Attitude Awards at The Roundhouse on October 6, 2021 in London. (Getty/Dave Benett)
Rylan Clark has opened up about his struggle with mental illness, which involved a recent hospitalization to keep him safe.
Last year, the television personality, whose real name is Ross Clark, confirmed the rumors that she had separated from her husband Dan Neal, and said he was taking time off work because he was “not in a good place” but was “looking for help.”
Clark completely disappeared from the public eye for four months, but on Sunday (January 16), in an interview with the observer, opened up about his mental health.
He said: “I got to the point where I didn’t know if I wanted to go back. Or if he would be able to do this job again. He was… pretty sick.
Clark got to the point where he “didn’t think it would get better” and realized that he “needed help.”
He explained that his Rylan Clark persona is a “brick wall”, able to deal with the scrutiny, criticism, and social media hate that comes with being a celebrity. Ross Clark, on the other hand, finds this more difficult.
Clark continued, “When you find out that something you’ve always wanted isn’t what you thought it was… I didn’t think it would be here. I didn’t think I could continue.”
Fortunately, Clark was able to access the help he needed and was taken to the hospital “for safety reasons.”
Now, he said, he realizes that he “lost” himself when his career became his whole life.
“I think I’m finding a new ‘me’ now,” he said.
“I’m so good at being Rylan. I know my job, what’s right, what’s wrong, what works, what doesn’t, I do very well with Rylan.
“But really, I didn’t realize how much Ross had lost… I learned that I’m worth something. That I should be proud of myself, not ashamed.”
Readers affected by issues raised in this story are encouraged to contact Samaritans at 116 123 (samaritans.org), or Mind on 0300 123 3393 (www.mind.org.uk).
RLeaders in the US are inencouraged to contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or The Trevor Project that provides crisis support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Text START to 678-678 or call (866) 488-7386.
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘1485835648227616’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
(function() {
var _fbq = window._fbq || (window._fbq = []);
if (!_fbq.loaded) {
var fbds = document.createElement(‘script’);
fbds.async = true;
fbds.src=”https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbds.js”;
var s = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(fbds, s);
_fbq.loaded = true;
}
_fbq.push([‘addPixelId’, ‘795355097161815’]);
})();
window._fbq = window._fbq || [];
window._fbq.push([‘track’, ‘PixelInitialized’, {}]);
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “https://connect.facebook.net/en_GB/all.js#xfbml=1&appId=226606047373640”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
