Rylan Clark, higher identified merely as Rylan, was truly born Ross Clark. The previous X Issue contestant, Superstar Huge Brother winner, Radio 2 DJ, This Morning presenter, Gogglebox common, podcaster and writer couldn’t be extra clear concerning the distinction. Rylan is OTT, supremely camp, bigger than life – the person who hysterically wept a present’s value of tears when Nicole Scherzinger put him by way of to the reside finals of The X Issue in 2012. That is the Rylan whose dream was to be well-known. After which there’s Ross – quieter, super-smart, able to trouncing politicians in debate and allergic to the thought of movie star.
With such polarities, maybe it was inevitable Clark would run into hassle. And positive sufficient he did. After ending fifth on The X Issue, he grew to become a TV fixture. He by no means stopped working. Then, three years in the past, he had a breakdown from which he by no means anticipated to get well. However he has executed – with model, and an enormous quantity of assist from the general public.
As of late, there’s nonetheless a distinction between Rylan and Ross. “You’re not going to see Rylan sitting there with no make-up on, with a beer in a single hand and the opposite hand down his pants simply to maintain heat, watching the soccer. That’s what Ross does,” he says. However the two are getting nearer. The pizazz of Rylan alongside the integrity of Ross makes for a formidable and foul-mouthed mixture.
We meet at a central London lodge. Clark is dressed from head to toe in black – hair, beard, polo neck, trousers, sneakers, the works. He could possibly be a male mannequin or a Physician Who baddie. As a child, he was an unconfident redhead, burdened with points. I ask what he likes to be known as: Rylan or Ross? “No matter you favor,” he says.
What does he choose? “Child!”
Clark was the final word Marmite X Issue contestant. He had loads of followers, and maybe even extra haters. In 2013, on Superstar Huge Brother, which he gained, he had one other tearful episode. “I’ve had worse press than Jimmy fucking Savile,” he claimed. “I even had demise threats despatched to my lodge and 24/7 safety.” It wasn’t a lot of an exaggeration. Certain, he didn’t have the best voice, however the stage of hatred directed at him was stunning. And that wasn’t the worst of it. It’s solely as we speak that I uncover the complete extent of what he went by way of on The X Issue.
We’re assembly to debate a brand new Prime Video actuality present, Scorching Mess Summer season. The idea is brutal and compelling: a bunch of spoilt, lazy narcissists are taken to the Greek island of Zante, pondering they’re about to take part in a actuality present for celebration animals. “They’re all liabilities,” Clark says. “They’re egocentric, so self-centred … I’m making an attempt to consider good phrases that aren’t derogatory, however they had been every thing you don’t need on an evening out.”
I attempt to assist out. They’re arseholes, aren’t they? He smiles. “Yeah! They’re that arsehole on an evening out. That’s precisely who they’re.” After they get to Zante, they’re instructed that somewhat than spending the summer time consuming on the bar they’ll be working behind it. To this point, so nasty. However it will get worse.
They’re then proven movies by which their buddies say why they’ve volunteered them for the present – as a result of they destroy nights out, they’ve by no means executed a day’s work, they don’t consider anybody however themselves, and on it goes. The contestants watch the movies open-mouthed, horrified by their buddies’ betrayal. It’s a surprise that just one threatens to go away the present. However step by step Clark wins them over: he tells them the present may make them higher folks, that they are going to study new expertise and values, and better of all there’s a pot of cash to be gained on the finish. In the end, all of them determine to remain.
What would have occurred in the event that they’d refused to participate? “The fear was that none of them would wish to do it and from a duty-of-care perspective we’d have stopped the manufacturing there after which. We might have booked eight flights house – thanks, everybody; sorry, guys, we’ve not obtained a present to make; let’s keep for a few days, lap up a little bit of the seashore and go house. However the threat paid off.”
And if the contestants had been severely traumatised by the expertise? “Oh my God, I’ve labored on actuality exhibits for 12 years now. And from being a contestant myself I’ve seen the change in responsibility of care. It’s everybody’s precedence now.”
Each time Clark has been requested about his time on X Issue up to now, he has been usually optimistic concerning the assist system that was in place. However he’s by no means instructed the complete story. As he tells me now, he has by no means been able to.
Clark, who grew up in Essex, was 23 when the present began. He had been a brilliant baby who went to one of many nation’s finest state colleges, and left with a stash of GCSEs. He’s undecided what number of precisely, he says – someplace between 12 and 15. Regardless of his tutorial prowess, he was sad: bullied for his campness till he determined to struggle again, and an everlasting outsider. He didn’t trouble with A-levels, and went off to Ibiza to carry out in Take That and Westlife tribute bands.
After which got here The X Issue. He says he knew what he was as much as – they at all times need a joke act, so he hammed it as much as the max. He seemed as if he was having the time of his life, and he was to an extent. However there was additionally one thing else happening. He and fellow contestant Lucy Spraggan had been portrayed as trouble-makers, with the press reporting unauthorised breakouts from the posh London lodge the place they had been being housed. One night time, as obvious punishment, they had been exiled to a lodge away from the opposite contestants. Within the subsequent episode Spraggan was absent. We had been instructed she was sick. She then left the present.
Final 12 months Spraggan wrote a memoir by which she revealed what truly occurred. That night time a lodge porter broke into her room and raped her, after she had handed out following a drunken night time out with Clark celebrating his birthday. The porter was later jailed after admitting the crime. In her e book, Spraggan reveals how supportive Clark was. Though the manufacturing crew known as the police and an arrest was shortly made, she advised they had been “unprepared” to cope with what had occurred.
I’ve additionally heard that Spraggan’s authorized crew believes Clark performed a significant function in securing the conviction. It was Clark who preserved the scene, prevented others from coming into the room earlier than the police obtained there, and gave spectacular proof about what had occurred, regardless of being the more serious for put on.
Once I point out this to Clark, he’s stunned that I find out about it. “That is so bizarre we’re having this dialog as a result of for 11 years I’ve saved all of it quiet.” He begins to dab his eyes. “I’m getting emotional. That was a very, actually powerful time. It was horrendous and I’ve nonetheless not spoken about it as a result of it’s not my story to inform, though I used to be a part of it.”
In an interview with the Guardian’s Saturday journal, final 12 months, Spraggan instructed Joe Stone why she had lastly determined to go public concerning the rape. “For years I used to be afraid of being often known as the woman that that occurred to. I used to be deeply, chronically ashamed. Now I perceive that what occurred wasn’t my determination – it was out of my fingers. And to ensure that me to rebuild myself and transfer on, I wanted to inform the reality.”
“Lucy known as me,” Clark remembers, “and stated, ‘I’m going to place it within the e book.’ I stated, ‘I’ll assist you if you wish to try this. No matter you wish to do, we try this.’” Clark says he’s going to verify in with Spraggan, after our interview, to verify she’s pleased with him speaking concerning the assault.
It says rather a lot about your character, I inform him, that you simply acted so responsibly that day. “Thanks. As a 24-year-old – it was the night time of my birthday – to get up to your pal saying, ‘I used to be raped final night time,’ whereas being on the most important present within the nation, whereas being adopted by the press wherever you go … I don’t know the way I did it. I don’t know what occurred. Lucy calls me Jessica Fletcher as a result of I came visiting all Angela Lansbury.”
In what means? “The very first thing I did was say to one of many researchers, ‘Go and get the bosses,’ they usually stated, ‘They’re busy,’ and I used to be like, ‘Go and fucking get them!’ I feel it’s the one time I’ve ever spoken to any individual like that.”
How did he protect the crime scene? “I stated, ‘It’s good to name the lodge and inform them you don’t need the room cleaned.’ They usually had been like, ‘What d’you imply?’ and I used to be, ‘Don’t … fucking … inform them … what’s occurred. Simply inform them you don’t need the room cleaned – you’re working in there. Say that.’ If somebody goes in that room and it’s cleaned, we’re fucked: that was my first thought. I grew to become like a criminal offense detective and I don’t know why that was.” He laughs, nonetheless dabbing away the tears.
A couple of minutes later he was doing a recording session with Robbie Williams. “I knew I needed to keep on. That Saturday Lucy was having per week off for ‘sickness’ they usually stated to me, ‘If you need we’ll offer you this Saturday off too,’ and I stated, ‘I can’t as a result of if we each take this Saturday off, the 2 “wild childs” of X Issue, she’s going to get shit and she will be able to’t have that proper now.’
“I went out and through that efficiency should you watch it again, midway by way of I’m going, ‘This one’s for you, Spraggan.’ I knew she was watching again on the residence. She then needed to give up as a result of she needed to go for remedy, and I needed to keep on.”
Does he assume if one thing like this occurred as we speak, manufacturing groups can be higher geared up to cope with it? “That’s a very tough query as a result of again then nobody anticipated any of us to get raped on the present. There was rather a lot that might have been improved. I feel everybody realized hundreds from these form of errors, however I don’t assume it was anybody’s fault aside from the person who raped Lucy.”
Spraggan has stated that transferring her and Clark to a different lodge made them extra susceptible. He nods. “I don’t assume that ought to have occurred. We didn’t have as a lot safety as we had been used to. Me and Lucy have had this dialog for years as a result of we’re the one two who can discuss to one another about it.”
A spokesperson for The X Issue says: “To our information, the assault was an occasion with out precedent within the UK tv business. Whereas we believed all through that we had been doing our greatest to assist Lucy within the aftermath of the ordeal, as Lucy thinks we may have executed extra, we should due to this fact recognise this. For every thing Lucy has suffered, we’re extraordinarily sorry. Since then, we’ve got executed our perfect to study classes from these occasions and enhance our aftercare processes.”
Clark continues to be emotional – about what occurred to Spraggan, their friendship and the general public hostility in the direction of him again then. “Lots of people had been judging me after I was on The X Issue. Prick. Fool. And I suppose from a egocentric perspective all these years on, somebody studying this, I’m like, ‘Fuck you, you bastard. You had no fucking concept. You. Had. No. Fucking. Concept. I needed to rise up on stage in entrance of 12 million folks singing fucking Madonna whereas dressed as a drag queen whereas I’m coping with that. I hope you’re feeling ashamed of yourselves, you bastards.’”
The factor is, Clark did get his revenge on the trolls. And in the absolute best means – by changing into an enormous success. Even the way in which he grew to become a hit was shocking: it wasn’t by being outlandish, however by being form and empathic. I’ve heard numerous good issues about you, I say. He smiles. “Oooh, fucking hell, that’s good to listen to.’ It’s fairly uncommon to listen to this about somebody in your world, I say. “I’ll be sincere with you: I don’t assume there’s a lot nasty shit I’ve executed. I feel I’ve at all times been good to folks and that confirmed after I got here again from being in poor health. I didn’t lose any of my jobs. I may have misplaced my Radio 2 present. I’d had fucking six months off.” Loyalty pays each methods, he says. Clark factors out that his former Huge Brother runner is now the director of his administration firm.
When it got here, his breakdown was excessive. He tried suicide and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. The catalyst was splitting from his husband, Dan Neal, in 2021. Years after being untrue to Neal, he fessed up. Neal couldn’t forgive him, and that was it. For a very long time, Clark says, he questioned why he felt the necessity to inform Neal about it. “I couldn’t perceive why I pressed the nuclear button on my seemingly excellent life. And it’s solely now I’m higher that I realise it was the ejector seat I wanted. Now I simply want I’d pressed that escape button earlier.”
However for a very long time he was simply struggling to remain alive. “I obtained so in poor health to the purpose the place I knew I couldn’t get any iller.” He says he merely couldn’t perform. “I couldn’t communicate. I needed to study to talk once more, I needed to study to maneuver once more. It was like I’d had a stroke. I couldn’t perceive something. Nothing made sense to me. I couldn’t have the TV on and I couldn’t take heed to music. All I may do was sit in silence. TV and music’s my job! I used to be fucked.”
Having survived his breakdown, he says it’s the perfect factor that might have occurred to him. “It’s made me who I’m now. My solely remorse is I needed to put my family and friends by way of it, they usually needed to watch me flip to nothing. Horrendous.”
How did he come by way of it? “I don’t know. There wasn’t a lightbulb second. It sounds foolish however I feel the turning level was the truth that I didn’t die. I want I may give a greater reply as a result of if there was a turning level, I’d bottle it and dish it out freed from cost.”
What has change into clearer than ever is how a lot he struggled with the fact of fame. “I believed the movie star was what I needed. I needed to be identified. I didn’t wish to queue. I didn’t wish to be ignored. I needed each fucker to know who I used to be, after which if I earned cash out of it and obtained a job, nice.” His sole dream was fame? “Yeah, and I obtained it and really quickly realised, ‘No, it’s the job I needed, not the celebrity.’ However then it was too late. If folks wish to see that as ungrateful, so be it.”
He mentions the Pet Store Boys music Flamboyant. “If the boys knew me I might genuinely go to a courtroom of legislation to say they wrote it about me. There’s a line that sticks with me on daily basis and it’s, ‘Simply crossing the road, effectively, it’s virtually heroic.’ That’s how I really feel plenty of the time. ‘I can’t go there, I can’t go there, I can’t go there.’ as a result of I simply get the concern plenty of the time.’
Then there’s relationship. It’s a nightmare, he says. Clark has been thrown off relationship apps as a result of they assume he’s catfishing. And most of the people who realise he’s for actual battle to deal with him usually. Has he met anyone who didn’t know who he was? “Yeah, I went to Barcelona a few years in the past. I used to be like, ‘My identify is Josh and I’m a household lawyer.’ Nice night time.” He grins. “Till a hen celebration walked in, went ‘Oh my God, Rylan!!’ and requested for a photograph. Then the sport was up.”
He has nonetheless started working out the way to make peace with fame. A method is to remind himself how a lot he’s loving his work – in addition to the fact present, he’s simply made a documentary about homophobia in soccer. One other is to simply accept the business for what it’s and keep true to himself. “It’s cut-throat. Lower-throat. You assume folks care about folks? Not likely.” He pauses. “However you realize what? I earn a residing from it and so long as I can sleep effectively at night time understanding I haven’t fucked folks over, I’m comfortable.”
Scorching Mess Summer season is on Prime Video from 7 February.
Data and assist for anybody affected by rape or sexual abuse points is offered from the next organisations. Within the UK, Rape Disaster presents assist on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Eire. Within the US, Rainn presents assist on 800-656-4673. In Australia, assist is offered at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Different worldwide helplines may be discovered at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Within the UK and Eire, Samaritans may be contacted on freephone 116 123, or electronic mail jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Within the US, you’ll be able to name or textual content the Nationwide Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or textual content HOME to 741741 to attach with a disaster counselor. In Australia, the disaster assist service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Different worldwide helplines may be discovered at befrienders.org
