Are You Really Ok?

Product Information

The lifelong Arsenal supporter grafted his way to Capital’s highly coveted Breakfast slot - and pulled in record-beating listeners with his cheeky sense of humour. Who else could convince Ed Sheeran to tattoo Roman’s leg on air, drive around London playing cab-roulette with James Corden, get Craig David to freestyle rap, or rope Lewis Capaldi into a life-drawing class? Roman is clearly living a highly privileged life and I don't begrudge him that. That being said it doesn't put him in a good position to write a book on the subject of mental health for the masses. Possibly the best part of the book I read was that in which he shares his experiences of his friend and colleague dying by suicide. This is real and an experience that cuts across class divides. That being so folk in Roman's position are very much better equipped to cope with loss since access to mental health support in the UK and much of the world depends, to a large extent, on how wealthy you are. Roman simply can't speak to the experiences that the majority of those struggling with mental health face and as such the book perpetuates the narrative that if we all just got our mates talking a bit more or went for an extra walk everything would be alright. I also particularly liked the end “Stuff that’s Good to Know” and will be taking ideas such as “The Wellness Menu” and “The Safety Plan” on board.

Then, in 2019, Roman won over yet more fans coming third in I?m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, with his uncanny impressions of everyone from Ant and Dec to his mate Harry Styles. Here, for the first time, Roman?s ready to reveal the things that weren't captured on camera, and how his time in the jungle changed his whole outlook on life. People might assume our house would have been filled with famous people when I was growing up. But it wasn't like that at all. In reality, Mum and Dad are quite homely people, they're insanely loved-up, even after nearly 40 years together, and are very happy just being in their own company. Consumed with feelings of worthlessness and self-hatred, he was planning his next steps when his mum’s face popped up on his phone and made the call that saved him.

LoveReading Says

Not hosting famous types. They didn't throw parties, they're just not ­extravagant people like that.

Whilst I’ve seen Roman in programmes such as DNA Journey and the documentary he did on mental health and suicide, I don’t listen to Capital Radio and so that side of his story was interesting to me. And I know of his parents and enjoyed their music but they were necessarily a family I followed (figuratively of course), but it was a real eye opener learning about them as people rather than just their names. Capital DJ Roman Kemp has achieved much success but he hasn’t had an easy ride. He’s battled depression since the age of 15, once contemplated suicide, and has bravely fought to smash the stigma still surrounding medication and mental health.

Who knows how life works, but if someone asks me what's the best thing to ever happen to me, it's undoubtedly the parents I was given.