Rylan Clark's love life after marriage break-up left him in crippling depression

Irish Daily Mirror

13-05-2025

TV star Rylan Clark is due to join forces with BBC Radio 1 legend Scott Mills as the two chums team up to provide commentary for the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Semi-Final, airing on BBC One, on May 13 and 15.
Despite having so much on-screen success following his rise to fame on X Factor in 2012, away from the cameras Rylan has been battling some personal demons after his marriage to Dan Neal broke down in 2021.
The 36-year-old star who met his husband Dan on the set of Big Brother's Bit on the Side, during an eviction interview, publicly accepted and admitted that their divorce was due to his own infidelities.
Back in June 2021, Rylan released a statement confirming that his marriage to Dan Neal was over. He stated: "Following reports about Dan and I spending time apart, I feel I have to speak out - as the way it is being reported is unfair."
The dissolution of their marriage followed Rylan's admission to Dan about his infidelities, leading to what he describes as an "extremely traumatic" period as he battled severe depression there after.
In a candid conversation with The Guardian, Rylan revealed the emotional toll it took on him: "My body completely shut down. I wouldn't eat."
He further described his struggles, stating: "I went through a stage where I couldn't even talk, which for some people might be quite handy. My speech was just slurred. My mum thought I was having a stroke. My body just went."
He also took time off from his BBC Radio 2 show. Speaking with The Guardian's Observer magazine, he shared: "I'd got to the point where I didn't know if I wanted to come back.
"Or whether I would be able to do this job again. I'd got... quite ill. I went down to just over 9st and I'm 6ft 4in. It got bad. Like, very bad. And I didn't think it would get better. I needed help."
Rylan candidly opened up in his book, Ten: The Decade That Changed My Future, Rylan confessed he been unfaithful on many occasions throughout his six-year marriage.
He confessed: "I have no excuses for what I did way back then, but I had my reasons. I think for many years I had felt a bit like an imposter. That nothing I was doing was right or not quite good enough."
After Rylan had come clean to Dan, he was surprised that his husband didn't attempt to stay, the former X Factor star penned: "He left. Told me it was over and that was that. You're not surprised? I get that. But I couldn't believe it."
Rylan spent considerable time alone, rebuilding his life and body. In an open discussion with Oti Mabuse and Emma Willis during a Red Nose Day hike, he shared: "I've personally had a bad few years with my mental health, with my physical health. I'm looking forward to doing this because I've rebuilt my life and rebuilt my body."
Reflecting on his journey, Rylan expressed: "The last few years my whole life completely changed, and the year after it happened I wasn't in the best place. Now I'm back to feeling normal. This year I've gone, 'Say yes to things you'd never say yes to'."
Rumours were circulating that Judge Rob Rinder and Rylan had formed a very close bond during filming of their Bafta Award-winning show Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour.
Despite Rylan hailing the programme as his "therapy" in his Bafta acceptance speech he did shut down romance speculation on Jessie and Lennie Ware's Table Manners podcast.
Setting the record straight, Rylan said: "I find it funny because I adore him, but we are like a married couple; we row all the time and we don't have sex."
Meanwhile, more recently in a discussion with BBC Radio 2's Zoe Ball, Rylan commented that he was now "off dating apps" leading to speculation that he might be seeing someone new.
In a speculative exchange, Zoe commented: "You've got a twinkle in your eye. I know you always have a twinkle in your eye, but that's a particularly big one," to which Rylan jested that he must have a stye.
In response to the hosts probe, he confessed: "I'm not on the apps no more, I've come off all the apps and I'm alright."
Eurovision Song Contest 2025 Semi-Final, airing on BBC One, on May 13 and 15, at 8pm.