Rylan Clark, the renowned television presenter and radio personality known for his work on 'This Morning' and his Radio 2 show, has opened up about the emotional impact of losing friends to cancel culture. The 37-year-old, who rose to fame on 'The X Factor', has built a vast network of celebrity friends over his career. However, during an appearance on ITV's 'The Assembly', he reflected on the difficult reality of seeing those friendships become casualties of public backlash.
"It's really tough," Clark said. "Especially because some of them are not just my work friends, they're genuinely, like, close friends." His comments come months after Scott Mills was fired from his broadcasting role following allegations that the Metropolitan Police investigated him in 2016 over claims of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000. The investigation was closed in 2019 due to insufficient evidence to bring charges.
Clark, who has worked with Mills on numerous occasions, including as commentators for the Eurovision semi-finals, described their friendship as close. Sources reported that the aftermath of Mills' firing was "rough" for Clark, who has been described as a "rock" to his friend. "They have done a lot of work together, but see a lot of each other socially, too. They always had each other's backs," a source shared. Mills has since kept a low profile with his husband, Sam Vaughan, only making one statement in which he recalled "fully cooperating" with the initial investigation.
During 'The Assembly', a series where celebrities are questioned by a neurodivergent panel, Clark was asked how he copes when a celebrity friend is cancelled. He gathered his thoughts and said, "At the end of the day, if someone's done something wrong, then I understand why they can't carry on doing what they're doing. But I do feel today that we live in a world where people will wanna go for you and cancel you for the sake of just doing it, because they can." He urged people not to "always believe what you hear or read" and added, "Don't be frightened to ask why," causing the group to fall silent.
Clark also opened up about his personal struggles, including his mental breakdown after splitting from his husband Dan Neal in 2021. He admitted that fame is "not important" to him now, despite chasing it in the past. "I've earned a lot of money over the years, and I'm grateful for that, but it became the one thing I hated the most," he said. When asked whether honesty is "always the best policy", given that his husband left him after he confessed to cheating, Clark stood firm. "I'm OK admitting when I'm in the wrong because, actually, I don't deal well with guilt and I don't deal well with secrets. It made me so ill. Like, so ill. And it sounds like a terrible thing to say, but I'm glad it happened."
Probed further on whether he "misses" anything about his ex, Clark dropped a stunning revelation: "I never think about him. I miss feeling like I've got it all. I thought I had life done. I've got the job, I've got the family, I've got the marriage, I've got the car, I've got the house... I thought I had it sussed. I didn't have anything sussed."
Clark continues his ongoing role on BBC Radio 2 and remains active with television presenting projects and media appearances.
