Rylan Clark says 'I couldn't get any iller' as he details surviving 'horrendous' breakdown

Rylan Clark has told how he 'couldn't get any iller' when he suffered a breakdown following the end of his marriage. The BBC Radio 2 star split from husband Dan Neal after six years in 2021.

The pair met on Big Brother's Bit on the Side - which Rylan was hosting - in 2015 and they became engaged the following year. Rylan and Dan, an ex-Met Police detective, walked down the aisle in 2016 and kept their relationship away from the public eye.

The news of his marriage coming to an end emerged amid Rylan's four-month break from the spotlight and it wasn't until later that he opened about his struggles during that period. But as speculation began as to why he had pulled out of his show before his split was rumoured, Rylan confirmed the separation in a statement.

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It said at the time: "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. I have made a number of mistakes which I deeply regret and have inevitably led to the breakdown of our marriage."

The TV star later put pen to paper in a new book, Ten: The Decade That Changed My Future, which chronicled his life from finding fame on The X Factor in 2012 up until recently. And for the first time he detailed the reasons for the end of his marriage, admitting he had cheated "years ago" but only told Dan the year they split.

Now, in a new interview, Rylan has spoken about the turmoil he faced after his admission led to the end of his marriage. “I couldn’t understand why I pressed the nuclear button on my seemingly perfect life," the 35-year-old told The Guardian. "And it’s only now I’m better that I realise it was the ejector seat I needed. Now I just wish I’d pressed that escape button earlier."

But Rylan's mental and physical health completely unravelled to the point he contemplated taking his own life and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

The TV and radio star told the publication: "I got so ill to the point where I knew I couldn’t get any iller... I couldn’t speak. I had to learn to speak again, I had to learn to move again. It was like I’d had a stroke. I couldn’t understand anything. Nothing made sense to me. I couldn’t have the TV on and I couldn’t listen to music. All I could do was sit in silence. TV and music’s my job! I was f**ked."

Having made it to the other side of his breakdown, Rylan now says it’s the best thing that could have happened to him. He added to The Guardian: "It’s made me who I am now. My only regret is I had to put my friends and family through it, and they had to watch me turn to nothing. Horrendous."