
Shirlie Kemp has recalled an emotional encounter she had with a fan about her son Roman Kempâs âpowerfulâ mental health documentary.
The singer is a proud mum to two children, singer-songwriter Harley Moon and presenter Roman. Shirlie shares her kids with Martin Kemp, whom she married way back in 1988.
As well as his telly work, Roman has long been an advocate for mental health. And according Shirley, she is âproudâ of him for speaking out about âthe heaviest of topicsâ as âit has to be doneâ.
Shirlie Kemp âproudâ of son Roman
Over the years, Roman has been open about his mental health struggles. In 2021, he fronted a powerful documentary for the BBC called Roman Kemp: Our Silent Emergency. The programme looked at how young men are being affected by mental health, after Romanâs friend Joe Lyons took his own life.
And in a recent interview, Romanâs mum Shirlie Kemp opened up about how proud she is of him.
The former pop star went on to recall a time she was left in tears after a heartbreaking conversation with a fan about Romanâs documentary.

Roman has been open about his mental health for years (Credit: ITV)
âI stood there crying and holding herâ
âI was in Marks & Spencer and this young lady came up to me. And she said, âRomanâs documentary was so powerfulâ,â Shirlie said, as Mirror reports.
She went on to reveal that the young lady shared how her brother took his own life. The woman told Shirlie: ââI wish he could have seen something like that.â
âAnd I stood there crying and holding her, because you realise that if there is just one person you can save, thatâs enough. So I am proud of him for doing that. Itâs the heaviest of topics, but it has to be done.â
Romanâs tribute to late friend
Earlier this year, Roman took to social media to pay tribute to his friend, Joe Lyons, five years after his tragic death.
On his Instagram story, Roman shared a clip of Joe animatedly watching and commenting on a Tottenham football match. He was in the Capital studio where their friendship began.
âCanât believe itâs been 5 years since youâve been gone bud. Still one of the best commentators Iâve ever heard,â Roman wrote in the caption of this video. âEven if we were meant to be running a national radio show,â he added with the crying with laughter emoji.
He then tagged Joeâs Buddy Line in the post, which is an initiative to get people talking about mental health in collaboration with suicide prevention charity Shout.


