Roman Kemp has shared his thoughts on Lewis Capaldi’s Glasto set (Picture: Getty)
Roman Kemp has described how he found his friend Lewis Capaldi’s Glastonbury set difficult to watch.
Lewis is never short of support, as his friends and fans rallied around him after his struggle with Tourette’s tics left him unable to finish a song at the Worthy Farm festival last weekend.
The crowd picked up the lyrics where Lewis couldn’t, and sang back to him as loud as they could.
After the performance – which Lewis called a ‘s**t show’ at the time – his good friend Roman also rushed to his side.
Although 30-year-old the Capital FM presenter couldn’t physically be backstage, he gave Lewis a call to say well done.
Roman has now revealed what they talked about in those moments, and what he thinks is the best way forward for his friend.
Lewis has taken time away from the public eye and music to focus on his heath after the difficult Glastonbury set (Picture: Harry Durrant/Getty Images)
Roman is is a good friend of Lewis’ and chatted to him after the set (Picture: Jo Hale/Redferns)
Chatting exclusively to Metro.co.uk, Roman admitted: ‘It was really hard to watch. It was really hard to watch. It was really, really sad.
‘I’m proud of him. But I’m more proud that he’s decided to step away. Because it is lovely seeing him up there, and it’s lovely seeing the crowd doing it, but this is someone’s life.
‘When I saw him doing that he stopped being Lewis Capaldi and I thought, hang on a minute. That’s my mate. And he’s not in a good way here.’
In a heartbreaking statement following the performance, Lewis explained that he is ‘still learning to adjust’ to the condition, and would be cancelling all his upcoming gigs.
While Roman admitted he wanted to ‘applaud’ the comradery of the moment when the crowd took the baton for Lewis, for him – a friend watching on – he felt only ‘sadness.’
‘Not because of the visual thing of, “He’s got Tourettes,”’ Roman clarified, ‘but more you can see he’s struggling.
‘And I know in his head he’ll be thinking, “F**k, this is my moment. It should have been different.”’
Lewis pulled out of Capital Summertime Ball – which was hosted by Roman – in order to give himself three weeks’ break before Glastonbury.
Roman was ‘proud’ of Lewis for doing so, but admitted: ‘Do I think Glastonbury came too soon? Yes. I think he knows that. He says that.
‘But look, he had to give it a go. He would have kicked himself if he didn’t.’
In their phone call after Lewis came off stage, Roman gave the Before You Go hitmaker a bit of advice.
‘I spoke to him just after he came off stage, and we had a chat on the phone,’ he explained.
‘I spoke to him just to say well done. And he said to me, he goes: “What do you think? I think I’m going to take some time. It’s just scary because you build all this stuff up and you don’t want to lose it.”‘
To that, Roman said: ‘”Man, look at the amount of people that are there. They’re not going to forget you.
‘”It’s just funny that your song is called Forget Me, but like, remember that you can go to sleep tonight having done something that’s a bucket list for any artist.”‘
He continued: ‘So now the main thing is, he’s got to get himself better. And that’s what I told him, that’s what I said to him.’
Roman has been open about his own mental health struggles in the past, and explained how one of the reasons he and Lewis are friends is because they are both ‘honest and open’ with one another.
Roman thinks their friendship is so strong because they are open and honest with one another (Picture: Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Elsewhere, Roman chatted about Sir Elton John’s ‘beautiful’ Glastonbury tribute to his late uncle, George Michael (Picture: Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Elsewhere, Roman also discussed Sir Elton John’s Glastonbury set, and the Rocketman hitmaker’s tribute to the presenter’s late uncle, George Michael.
Roman admitted it was a really ‘beautiful’ moment to see Michael’s picture up there, after the legendary singer died suddenly aged 53 in 2016.
‘The thing that’s always so crazy is that I’ve grown up with this person in my life that was my uncle and you’re like, “Oh, that’s just him, right?”
‘Obviously I went to see George play quite a lot, but there’s very few moments where you get to go, “F**k me, the impact he’s had,”’ he explained.
Roman also chatted about his new campaign, for which he is teaming up with Virgin Media O2.
In it, he is flexing his comedy muscles in a parody safety video for non-O2 customers about data roaming charges in the EU this summer.
‘I’m an O2 customer anyway,’ said Roman of the collaboration, which sees him don a pilots uniform and frolic around a real plane (much to the amusement of his friends, apparently).
Roman Kemp has teamed up with Virgin Media O2 for their new campaign to warn holiday makers about roaming charges this summer. It comes as O2 are the only major network not reintroducing roaming fees in the EU up to 25GB.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
‘That’s my mate. And he’s not in a good way here.’
