Vernon was joined by a long-time broadcaster on his mid-morning radio show, where she shed light on her mental health and admitted she had been through a “terrible time”
Vernon Kay has apologised to a BBC Radio 2 co-star (Image: ITV)
Vernon Kay has issued an apology to a BBC Radio 2 colleague after she revealed details of a private health struggle, confessing that he had “no idea”. During yesterday’s Tracks of My Years segment on his mid-morning programme (July 7), Vernon welcomed veteran broadcaster Fearne Cotton, who discussed her mental health.
Fearne, who currently presents Sounds of the 90s on Radio 2, has spoken openly about living with depression and OCD. But in recent years she has stepped back from live TV to host the Happy Place podcast. The subject arose during her conversation with Vernon, who enquired whether she had found television “gruelling”. Fearne explained she hadn’t at first, but that her career resulted in paparazzi tracking her “everywhere”.
Fearne has spoken previously about living with depression and OCD (Image: Getty Images)
She said: “I just felt paranoid that someone was photographing me, taking the bins out, whatever. Paparazzi would get on flights at Heathrow and fly to LA to like pap me at the other end.
“And I’ll be like, ‘I’m getting off a flight. I’m not even doing anything’. And then I went through just a terrible time of mental health in my late 20s, early 30s, where the press stuff was awful, the pressure of being on air amongst it all.”
Fearne maintained that mental health wasn’t particularly discussed during that period. This meant she would address it in her “own head” without speaking about it to anyone, including her own producer.
She continued: “So I very much, like many people have, and still sadly do, dealt with it all in my own head. You know, I didn’t say to a single person, not my producer, anyone, ‘I am on the brink of this like not being okay’.
“I just, I took medication, and I went to work every day. And I felt dreadful for most of that period.”
Vernon asked whether she had found TV “gruelling” (Image: BBC)
Vernon responded: “Well, I apologise. I had no idea”, to which Fearne clarified that she “didn’t tell anyone”.
Fearne has appeared on our screens since she was just 15, beginning her career on GMTV’s The Disney Club. Now 44, she has backed away from the demands of television and has since been concentrating on her wellness brand, Happy Place.
She also opened up about her mental health to Metro earlier this year. Fearne, who penned the book Likeable: How I Broke Free From The Need To Please, told the outlet that she’d had bulimia and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
“I’m not saying that every single mental and physical issue I’ve had is down to people pleasing, but it’s definitely contributed to everything from very low self-esteem and poor mental health.
“I had bulimia, and I had OCD at one point, I’m not saying that that’s entirely down to people pleasing, but I do think part of it was just trying to keep everybody happy, totally neglecting myself, as many of us do.”
