Roman Kemp chokes back tears as he thanks listeners for ‘saving his life’ amid depression

Roman Kemp thanked his listeners for ‘saving his life’ during his battle with depression as he hosted his final show on Capital Breakfast on Thursday.

The radio host, 31, who is leaving the station after 10 years, credited the show and its listeners for getting him through some of his darkest days. 

During his last show, Roman delivered a touching speech as he said how grateful he was to them for bringing ‘light and laughter into his life’ during his slot on the radio.

Roman became emotional as he said: ‘I know that there is a lot of people listening right now, and I wanted to take the time to say thank you. I was more nervous about saying I was leaving than actually leaving this show. 

‘This show is run by so many people behind the scenes who try so hard to give you that bit of energy in the morning and to try and get you up and feeling good, but I think what I want to get across is just how much fun I’ve had on this station in the past ten years.

‘It has changed my life in so many ways and I have grown up in this place, and that’s because of all of you listening. You have been able to be there for me through things that I never imagined would even happen. 

‘I’ve had moments on this show where my whole life outside of work is completely down the pan. There were times where I didn’t want to be here anymore. There have been moments where my life outside of this room has been the worst thing ever.

‘I know a great life, but in my head that’s how it felt. I knew that all I had in my life were these four hours in my day where I could come to work and in those four hours I knew that I was going to laugh and have fun and be surrounded by people that get me and those four hours and those people that I’m talking about include you – the listeners. You have no idea how much you have helped me.’

Roman went on: ‘I want to say thank you for listening, every text, every call, all of it. I appreciate it more than you will ever know. I’ve had the most fun and I owe a huge debt to this company to be able to take a punt on me.

‘I was terrified to take over this show and I’m terrified to leave it. But sometimes with these things, you just know when the right time to move on is and that time is now for me. 

‘You have helped me so much and you have always backed me and it’s been amazing. Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, you have genuinely saved my life at certain times.’ 

Roman prepared to host his final Capital Breakfast show and made sure to dress for the occasion. 

He revealed he was stepping down from the show in a statement last month, after 10 years of presenting for the station.

During his last show, he co-stars Sian Welby and Chris Stark struggled to hold back tears while ‘suiting up’ and black blazers and bow ties. 

Sharing a series of behind-the-scenes photos to Instagram, Roman shared a selfie from behind the desk. 

‘The last one,’ he captioned the snap, while another showed Sian tear up.  

After the show Roman will be replaced by Jordan North, 34.

On Wednesday Roman struggled to hold back the tears when his Capital Breakfast co-stars surprised him by hosting the radio show from the dressing room of Emirates Stadium.

To mark his penultimate show, his co-hosts Sian and Chris decided to surprise him by blindfolding the star and then taking him to the home of his beloved Arsenal football club.

Speaking to listeners, Chris explained: ‘So, the story is we’ve been planning this for weeks in secret, and the best bit is Roman Kemp still has no idea where he’s going.’

The duo then rang Roman, as his car pulled up outside, with Chris saying: ‘So to set the scene a little bit, am I right in thinking you’re currently wearing a blindfold?’

Roman replied: ‘Well, I’ve been wearing a blindfold for the past like hour and a bit now, since being in this cab. 

‘I was slightly worried about getting into a car blindfolded and just letting it go wherever. But honestly, I’m starting to get nervous now.’

He was then guided out of the car and led through the stadium, while trying to guess his location.

Roman whipped off the blindfold and gasped: ‘Oh. My. God! This is insane!’ 

He was handed a microphone as Chris said: ‘Roman, for everyone listening, where are we doing the show from this morning – your penultimate show?’

An astonished Roman answered: ‘We’re at the home of football, we’re inside the Arsenal stadium! We’re in the dressing room!’

He became visibly emotional as he said: ‘This is insane, how have you done this? This is wild. Can I just say, I’m nearly crying. I nearly cried when I took that off.

‘This is unbelievable. This is ridiculous. By the way, we are live from inside the dressing room of my favourite in the world. The Emirates Stadium with eBay. This is unbelievable, isn’t it?’

The surprises for Roman didn’t stop there, as Chris proceeded to serenade him  on the guitar with his own personalised rendition of Arsenal terrace favourite, The Angel (North London Forever).

He then challenged Roman to test his Arsenal knowledge with a quiz on the football club, promising that if he won he would get to live out his childhood dream or taking a penalty on the Emirates pitch.

Roman added: ‘Tomorrow, it’s the big one. It’s my final show after being on Capital for 10 years – It’s my last one!’ causing Sian to burst into tears.

Chris asked: ‘Sian, are you crying? Oh no! Why are you crying?’

She replied: ‘Because I just suddenly realised that tomorrow is your last show. I actually am crying. It’s just been such a mad… Today has been such a fun day. 

‘It’s been so nice just hearing from everybody and, you know, how much you’ve meant to them over all these years you’ve done Capital Breakfast. 

‘To know that tomorrow is the last one – and we’ve all been building up to this for so long – it just got to me then as you said it.’

Roman explained he wanted his last ever show to be ‘as normal as possible’ with the listeners coming on air to talk to them, saying it would be ‘a chance for me to be able to properly say goodbye to you.’

Roman joined Capital in 2014 before hosting the prestigious The Capital Evening Show in 2016.

In 2017 he moved to Capital Breakfast before taking the show nationwide in 2019. 

He announced his departure on air last month, before issuing a statement on his social media, where he said Capital was his ‘family’ that pulled him back from his ‘absolute lowest’ and helped ‘make me the man I am’.

He concluded: ‘When I started this show I was told to remember it’s like a table at the pub with your friends and one chair is empty so the listener can come and join the laughs…

‘Well now it’s time for me to give my chair at the table to someone else.’ 

Listen to Capital Breakfast with Roman, Chris and Sian weekdays from 6:00am – 10:00am across the UK on air, and on Global Player.