Martin and Roman Kemp star on Gogglebox together (Image: Channel 4)
Martin Kemp shared concerns for his son Roman’s welfare. It comes as Roman made courageous efforts to increase awareness of mental health. The 32 year old presenter of has spoken openly about his struggles with depression, revealing he’s experienced feeling confined and detailed his mental health journey.
In his documentary ‘Our Silent Emergency,’ made some painful confessions, including the heart-wrenching moment he contemplated taking his own life. The documentary also touches on the agonising grief Roman endured after learning of the tragic passing of his close friend, Joe Lyons, reports .
Martin Kemp said he is worried about his son (Image: Neil Mockford / Ricky Vigil M, GC Imagesvia Getty Images)
His advocacy took him to Parliament to push for additional funding for mental health services among young people. Now a champion for mental health, Roman continues to encourage young individuals to openly discuss their emotional state.
However, during the ‘FFS!, My dad is Martin Kemp’ podcast, Roman’s father voiced his apprehensions about the potential toll of his son’s activism on his own mental wellbeing. He stated: “I worry about you doing this, I worry about it.
“Because I know that, from being an actor, that when you convince yourself and talk about things so much that it would come down heavily on you, on your psychological health, that’s what I worry about from you doing this. I appreciate you doing it, and I think what you’re doing is great, but I worry about the effects on you.”
Roman candidly opened up about his personal struggles, linking them to “a traumatic experience” following his friend Joe’s death. He shared with profound honesty: “Reliving the trauma actually helps me. Like, the more I talk about it, the more it dilutes the story and you become semi-detached.”
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The dad and lad duo are often in the public eye (Image: Getty)
He further explained his healing process: “It becomes what happens to you in your life. You’re more likely to understand that that was in the past, that’s happened.”
In a poignant conversation about masculinity and mental health, Roman expressed his belief that mental health issues transcend gender boundaries, revealing: “From the ones I have spoken to, they say 80 to 90 percent of callouts are female.”
Delving into grim statistics, Roman underscored the gravity of the situation: “Out of the 100 percent of people that are saying that they want to kill themselves or they are at that point where they want to take their own life, the majority of them are female so, you then tell me is mental health a male or female problem.”
Martin then challenged mainstream views by questioning why the issue of suicide is often framed as predominately a male concern.
Citing the mental health charity Mind, he highlighted the stark contrast in suicidal behaviour between genders, noting that although women may encounter suicidal thoughts more frequently, men are three times more prone to dying by suicide.
The charity Mind also calls attention to elevated mental health concerns within the LGBTQ community and presents worrisome statistics about young women aged 1624 grappling with their mental wellbeing.