Roman Kemp shares heartache at losing best friend producer Joe Lyons to suicide

Roman Kemp has spoken out about his grief at losing his best friend to suicide.  

The Capital FM presenter, 28, was heartbroken when the radio station’s breakfast show producer Joe Lyons took his own life in August of last year. 

Appearing on Sunday Brunch, Roman spoke about how filming BBC Three’s Our Silent Emergency was his own form of therapy as he explored the growing mental health crisis in young men. 

Roman said: ‘It’s incredibly sad. There’s no other way of putting it other than it’s incredibly sad.’

As a trailer for the documentary aired, the presenter continued: ‘What you’re seeing in this documentary, very selfishly from my perspective, is I was using this. 

‘I lost Joe near enough eight months ago now and people were saying to me “it’s too soon to go out there and you want to think about yourself and maybe go to some therapy”.

‘I didn’t want to do that because I saw this as my own therapy.’

Roman said how talking to other people who have been suicidal helped him because ‘I wanted to know who are you thinking about? Are you thinking about your friends and family? Are you thinking about who you are going to leave behind?’ 

The show also delves into the lasting impact that mental health issues and suicide can have on the loved ones of those involved. 

Joe’s death was a huge shock to Roman and the rest of the Capital family. 

The presenter broke down in tears when he later paid tribute to his best friend on air.  

In a trailer for the documentary, released on The One Show on Thursday, Roman explained how Joe was the last person he thought would take his own life. 

‘If you’d have lined up 20 people you would have thought were suffering mentally he [Joe] would have been the last person.

‘He was the happiest person, putting everyone ahead of him. I didn’t know what had happened.

‘It just put me in this state where I’d feel like I knew I had to do something for him and for his family I guess. That’s the overwhelming thought I had.’

Joe was a well-loved producer at Global radio for nine years.

After Joe’s death, Roman emotionally addressed fans on his show Sunday Best, which he co-hosts with his father Martin Kemp, 59, urging them to ‘reach out’. 

Paying tribute to Joe, he said: ‘Before we can start with our usual show, you may have read that it’s been an incredibly hard week for me personally, as I lost my best friend…

‘It has completely devastated his family, friends, me, my family. I really want to make sure that I use this time right now to say if you are struggling, then please know that you can reach out…

‘There is always someone you can talk to: your family, friends, colleagues… or anyone from the support charities that are out there.’  

For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details