Roman Kemp shocked everyone in February when he revealed the decision to leave his hit Captial Radio breakfast show after ten years.
Since the decision, there has been speculation about why he chose to leave and now, just days after his final show, he has revealed that it was due to the heartbreaking loss of his best friend Joe Lyons, who was a producer on the radio programme.
© InstagramHe told the Mirror: "The bosses at Capital know this and I said it, it's difficult, I went through such a horrible moment in that room in that studio, four years on and I've been living that same day over and over again, without the awful event.
"For me, I'm quite ready to go: 'OK, close that door now, don't keep going back living that horrible day over again. That's sad that obviously affects me but it does. Every day I walk in there and I see Joe, that's a weird thing to do. I think it's going to be really good for me to move on with my life. I had an opportunity in my life, I can go and enjoy my life for a bit and I want to enjoy what I have achieved."
Joe, who was known to the public as 'Producer Joe' tragically took his own life in 2020. Roman was made aware of his friend's death whilst at work when colleagues visited Joe's home after he didn't come in when expected.
© InstagramSince then, Roman has done all he can to raise awareness about mental health including multiple BBC documentaries: Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency and Roman Kemp: The Fight for Young Lives, talking about his own mental health struggles as well as raising awareness for young people who are silently suffering.
Last year, Roman teamed up with Princess Kate to discuss the importance of mental wellbeing as the Princess launched her Shaping Us campaign.
© InstagramIn an interview with The Times, he revealed how Kate reached out to him after seeing one of his documentaries. "It was an honour but it was one of the weirdest things. We had a Zoom call, just her and me."
After a discussion about making a short film about mental health together, Roman revealed: "And she was like, 'Oh, you know, I can come over to your place and do it there.' And I just said, 'No, let's go to my parents'. It's a bigger house. I don't want to bring royalty to a flat in Vauxhall."
He continued: "We were sitting at the kitchen counter, with my mum and dad and my sister with all the dogs, and Kate was there with us. The funniest thing was she didn't have any shoes on because she was respectful enough to take her shoes off at the door. That really stuck in my head because you never see royalty with no shoes." The short film was aired the following month.
