Radio and TV presenter Roman Kemp has revealed that he is on antidepressants and has been since the age of 15.
The 28-year-old has fronted a powerful new one-off documentary about male mental health following the sudden death of his best friend, Joe Lyons, last summer.
Speaking to The Times about the project, Kemp spoke openly about his own past battles with depression and revealed that he remains on medication to keep the condition in check.
"I have the best parents any kid could ever imagine. I had the best upbringing anyone could ever imagine," Kemp - son of Martin Kemp and Shirlie Holliman - told the newspaper. "I have a safe place that I can call home. I have great friends. But at the age of 15 I suffered majorly with depression.
"Since, I've taken antidepressants and that's just part of my life. I know how dark it can get if ever I come off of those tablets, and those kinds of thoughts come into play. And for the first time ever, I talk in this documentary about how my mum kind of saved my life."
Elaborating on the incident, which happened just 18 months ago, Kemp hinted that he had been close to suicide until his mother saw the signs and intervened.
"I couldn't tell you what happened that day, I got myself into such a state that I felt like I just wanted that state to stop," he said. "That mental 'banging at the door' to stop. I was alone, sitting on the floor of my house. And somehow I knew I had to call my mum.
"It clicked with my mum on the phone as to what I was talking about. She knew she had to stay on the phone and get in the car and drive into London to be with me. That for sure, is the lowest in my life I've ever been."
Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency is released on BBC Three on Tuesday, March 16.
Neil Wilkes
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