Roman Kemp is in the passenger seat with host Alex Legouix who drives him around the Hertfordshire Countryside for a new podcast from AutoTrader, talking about joining and leaving Capital.
They go past the sights of his hometown, unlocking memories and stories, including: the park where he had his first kiss, a leisure centre where he worked part time and being on set at EastEnders as a child.
In the first episode of the second season of Show on the Road, Alex drives Roman around the Hertfordshire Countryside in a black Vauxhall Corsa – the same vehicle Roman would have driven in 2010.
Together they drive past the sights of his hometown, unlocking memories and stories.
It was during the World Cup that Roman fell into contact with the right person from Capital FM that led to his radio job. He said: “I kept bumping into this boy in these pubs, and I was going, Are you following me? What’s the deal here?
“And he’s like, no, I work for LBC, and I’m trying to get voice notes of different fans after the games.
“And I said, okay, cool. Would you want a beer? And he goes, well, I can’t really drink until I’ve finished.
“I said, well, how long until you finish? And he goes, Well, I haven’t got any yet. And I said.. give me a microphone. I took it off him and I ran around and I got all this thing done in 10 minutes. I went around every single person in the pub…
“And then I never really heard from him. Then … I get this phone call. Can you come into Capital?
“I was like, all right, weird. But they got me to work on the breakfast show at the time.
“It was Dave Berry and Lisa Snowdon. I was the runaround boy who would go and get vox pops (soundbites of people talking.) And that’s where I met Joe (Lyons) for the first time and then from there it grew …”
Joe Lyons became a best friend and business partner to Roman. Sadly Joe died by suicide in August 2020.
Roman reflected on his friendship with Joe and the great loss he feels. He said: “When you lose someone to suicide, it’s so strange. You know, Joe was the first person I met when I arrived at Capital.
“My best friend, my producer and beyond a work colleague, he’s like my boyfriend.
“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 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 and I just said, I don’t know some accident because weirdly me, my mum and him and my dad had all been for dinner and two nights before, but then at around 11am I found out that it was suicide and everything changed.
“My attitude towards him changed. My idea of what suicide is changed. I was someone that thought the conventional thing was antidepressants, therapy, you know.
All of this was wrong. (Joe 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.
“We had a business together, we were making TV shows together. And now I’m having to wait until they tell his mum and dad that he clearly wasn’t happy enough. And it’s weird. 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.
“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. You know, the saddest part of leaving Capital is that I feel like I’m leaving him. That’s the God’s honest truth, the only part of it that I cried about was that I feel like I’m letting that go.
“I’ve always been very open with the fact that I’ve big suicidal thoughts, I’ve had really weird parts in my life, where I’ve been heavily depressed. I’m still on and have been on antidepressants for best part of 20 years now. And what does that do to me to be open about that is a good thing.”
On leaving Capital and his health issues Roman said: “What led me to leave Capital? ..Sleep.
“…I didn’t really know that I had sleep apnea until recently. And then I did these tests and the way the doctor described it to me was, I was running a half marathon in my sleep and not resting.
“Because the oxygen intake that I get in my sleep is like 20 percent of what you would get.
“I think leaving Capital for me was a mixture of things. I’m tired. I need to look after myself a little bit.
“I was trying to spin two careers at once. One is telly and the other is radio. But, on the other hand, there have been days where I’ve felt my lowest, and the radio is the thing that has kept me going. I’ve gone through things on air that no one should ever have to go through. You know, so it’s been sad leaving Capital, but I think it’s the right thing.”
This story first appeared on radiotoday.co.uk