Roman Kemp on moment he told mum Shirlie his best friend had died: ‘She just screamed’

‘Everything changed’ when he discovered Joe had taken his own life

TV presenter Roman Kemp, who is back on The One Show tonight (January 19), previously shared intimate details about the profound impact of his best friend’s death in a podcast chat.

Roman shared his story in a heartfelt episode of Auto Trader’s Show on the Road back in 2024, while revisiting places in the Hertfordshire Countryside that hold memories from his past.

Roman Kemp opened up about losing his best friend (Credit: Cover Images)

Roman Kemp on losing his best friend

The podcast is known for its intimate conversations with celebrities while retracing the pivotal moments of their lives. And, as Roman and host Alex Legouix drove past landmarks of his youth, he shared recollections of his childhood.

Visiting Elstree Studios brought back memories of his father – actor Martin Kemp‘s – time on EastEnders. However, it was the loss of Joe Lyons, Roman’s best friend and Capital FM’s producer, to suicide that stood as the central, most moving part of the conversation.

He described Joe, who was 31 when he died, as more than a co-worker — calling him his “best friend” and jokingly, “like my boyfriend”. He quipped: “We were together nonstop. I had girlfriends that would say Joe was more like the partner in the relationship. And here’s someone that you’ve spent all that time with, seemingly living a different life, to the one that you were told, right in front of you.”

‘I was on air when it was unfolding’

Recalling the day he learned of Lyons’s passing, Roman – who hosts The One Show – said: “I was on air when it was all kind of unfolding, because he just hadn’t turned up for work. And when I found out he had died, I remember calling my mum and I remember hearing my mum just scream, and say: ‘What happened?’”

Initially believing it to be an accident, Roman’s grief morphed into a complex mix of sadness and guilt upon discovering Lyons had taken his own life.

“I just said: ‘I don’t know some accident,’ because weirdly me, my mum and him and my dad had all been for dinner two nights before. But then at around 11am I found out that it was suicide and everything changed,” he confessed, revealing how the tragedy altered his perception of suicide and mental health.

Roman also criticised the simplistic views many hold towards mental illness and treatment. “All of this was wrong,” Roman stated. “He was like the happiest person you could ever meet on the outside. Confident, good looking, good job, got money, got a lovely family, owns his own apartment.”

Roman is the son of Martin Kemp (Credit: Cover Images)

Roman Kemp on leaving Capital FM

Four years on, Kemp expressed a deep-seated sadness and regret for not recognising the signs of his friend’s distress.

“So I guess now four years on, I’m sad. I’m so, so sad. And I’m so sorry that I didn’t push. And there’s people out there that will say to me all the time, it’s not your fault. Or they’ll say, you know, there’s nothing you could have done, but I’m here to tell you there was.

“If I had had a hint, I would have been there. I live two minutes away. The scary thing is that the person that I love and the person that I hold so close to my heart is ending their life on purpose.”

He now advocates for open and honest conversations about mental health and continued: “I’m on the other side of this now. And let me tell you, like, if you’re worried about your mate, speak to him because it is not nice on this side of it.”