Rylan

Rylan Clark is the latest celebrity to be grilled on ITV’s The Assembly, where autistic and neurodivergent interviewers pose no-holds-barred questions

Rylan Clark was left stunned when probed about his ex-husband on ITV’s The Assembly. The Radio 2 star, 37, is the latest celebrity to be grilled on the experimental programme, where autistic and neurodivergent interviewers pose no-holds-barred questions to a host of famous faces.

Rylan knew he would be asked some difficult questions on the show, but when one interviewer brought up the topic of him cheating on his ex, Dan Neal, who he split with in 2021 after six years of marriage – he was floored.

Caught completely off-guard, Rylan was asked: “When you told your husband you cheated on him, he divorced you. Is honesty always the best policy?”

“Oh, wow”, Rylan replied, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, I think it is. I’m okay admitting I’m in the wrong, because actually I don’t deal well with guilt and I don’t deal well with secrets.”

After his split with Dan, the TV star took a lengthy sabbatical from all his television work and admitted he’d grappled with suicidal thoughts. Telling the interviewer he had been “really ill”, he shared: “It made me so ill, like so ill. It sounds a terrible thing to say, but I’m glad it happened.”

In another curveball, the former X Factor icon then admitted he didn’t “regret anything” as he shed more light on their break-up. Lifting the lid on life post-divorce, he said: “Do you know, I never think of him.

“So, this is like, my whole body just went [tense]. 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. I didn’t know what was a real relationship, and I can look back now and know that I don’t regret anything.

“I don’t regret anything, so I’ll leave that up to your imagination.”

Speaking to a make-up artist during a break from filming for the programme, Rylan, who went public with new partner Kennedy Bates in January, said he was pleased he took part in The Assembly, even though it was uncomfortable.

He said: “I’m so glad I did this. But yeah, [the] Dan questions, I was like [surprised] – I don’t even say his name. When my marriage ended, you know that term when someone says, ‘To pull the rug from under you?’

“That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s like someone went like that and I fell over, and I couldn’t get back up. [It was] like I broke both my arms and legs.”

Admitting he didn’t think he was going to “get out of it”, he concluded: “I went back to live with my mum because I didn’t want to be in my house, because there were too many memories of things in there.”

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Rylan Clark made a candid admission about his divorce from Dan Neal on ITV’s The Assembly

Rylan Clark has candidly opened up about his split from ex-husband Dan Neal.

The 37-year-old TV personality is the latest famous face to take on ITV’s The Assembly, as the candid interview series wraps up its second run.

This extended series has also welcomed beloved figures including Sir Stephen Fry, former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, comedy icon Sir Lenny Henry, actor Anna Maxwell Martin, and rapper Aitch.

The famous faces have to answer an unflinching series of questions that go beyond anything typically asked on traditional chat shows, press tours or even political interrogations. Rylan’s episode airs on ITV1 and ITVX at 10pm on Sunday (May 24), where he confronts difficult questions about his divorce.

The presenter parted ways with his husband Dan in 2021 following six years of marriage. Rylan has been open about what led to the separation, acknowledging his infidelity during the early stages of their relationship, reports the Express.

In the upcoming episode of The Assembly, a man named Cameron asks Rylan: “When you told your husband you cheated on him, he divorced you. Is honesty always the best policy?”

The question clearly catches Rylan off guard, prompting him to respond: “Oh wow,” before continuing: “Yeah, I think it is. I’m okay admitting 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. It sounds a terrible thing to say, but I’m glad it happened.”

Cameron follows up with: “What do you miss about Dan, if anything?”

Rylan pauses to collect his thoughts before responding: “Do you know, I never think about him. So, this is like, my whole body just went [tense]. 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. I didn’t know what was a real relationship, and I can look back now and know that I don’t regret anything. I don’t regret anything, so I’ll leave that up to your imagination.”

During a break from filming, Rylan is seen getting his make-up done. He says to the make-up artist: “I’m so glad I did this. But yeah, [the] Dan questions, I was like [surprised] – I don’t even say his name.”

The television personality goes on to openly reflect on the collapse of his marriage and the subsequent breakdown he went through.

“When my marriage ended, you know that term when someone says, ‘To pull the rug from under you?’ That’s the only way I can describe it. It’s like someone went like that and I fell over, and I couldn’t get back up. [It was] like I broke both my arms and legs,” he reveals.

“I thought I wasn’t going to get out of it. I went back to live with my mum because I didn’t want to be in my house, because there were too many memories of things in there.”

Rylan is currently in a relationship with Kennedy Bates, who works in the fairground industry. The couple went public with their relationship after Rylan posted snaps of their sun-soaked Maldives holiday back in January.

Speaking on The Assembly, he reveals: “When I first started dating Kennedy, and I told [my mum] about him, she was like, ‘He’s handsome,’ and he is handsome. And then she was like, ‘So, has anything happened?’ And I’m like, ‘Shut up! Shut up!'”

Rylan’s episode of The Assembly will air at 10pm on ITV1 and ITVX on Sunday, May 24