Rylan Clark opens up on divorce: ‘My heart had to be restarted’
The TV presenter opened up about his divorce from Dan Neal during a show on Wednesday (21 September)
Rylan Clark has shared that he had two heart failures during his divorce last year and that at one point, “My heart had to be restarted”.
The TV presenter, 33, announced his divorce from his partner of six years, Dan Neal, last year. He had previously confirmed he had been admitted to hospital on at least one occasion “for safety reasons”.
During his show, An Evening With Rylan Clark event at London Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday (21 September) Rylan opened up more to the audience.
As reported by Metro he said: “It was like my body had shut down. Twice last year I ended up back in an ambulance because my heart had failed and it was really strange because I just remember for a couple of weeks going, ‘My heart hurts’.”
Rylan also said: “My heart had to be restarted. I just remember lying in re-sus[citation], because I had these pads on with all these wires, and not understanding what it was.”
“There were weeks that I couldn’t speak,”
Rylan Clark, An Evening with Rylan Clark
He recounted how “There were weeks that I couldn’t speak,” and that his mum had grown concerned he’d had a stroke.
In February the presenter posted on Twitter that he was “on the mend” after an extended stay in hospital, although it’s not clear if this was the same incident as above or that Rylan recounted on Wednesday.
Opening up to the audience on Wednesday Rylan said he was still looking for love.
“The one thing I was most frightened of was being on my own. And I know that sounds really strange because I can just go on Instagram or Twitter and speak to a million and a half of you at any one time. But I think I was so frightened of being alone that I think that’s what contributed to my downfall and my spiral that I was in.”
He later ruminates that learning he’s alright on his own has been an important lesson.
Ryan’s book, Ten, is due out on 29 September.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can call the Samaritans on 116 123.
The Attitude September/October issue is out now.