‘I had the world against me, but I came through’: Rylan on facing bullies, The X Factor and his high-flying TV career

IT’S five years since – even by its outlandish standards – one of X Factor’s most OTT moments.

Being put through to the live shows by Nicole Scherzinger saw Rylan Clark-Neal have a hysterical breakdown, throwing himself tearfully and theatrically around the room.

Now one of TV’s most sought-after presenters, it’s a time you may think he’d sheepishly like to put behind him.

But Rylan has told iN10 why he never wants to forget that moment – and why he never could anyway.

“You can’t get away from it because it always comes up, but I often look at it anyway,” said Rylan, 29.

“I try to remember that feeling. That was the exact moment my life changed for ever and I have that moment on video.

“I look at how much it meant to me then and what I’m doing now as a result.

“I’ve got to remember being that person who didn’t have a regular job, who worried about money and how I was going to pay my car insurance and pay off my credit card.”

Rylan agrees it really was one of those moments that his life could have headed in a completely different direction.

What that direction may have been, is impossible to fathom.

“I’m so happy my Sliding Doors (a film about fate, starring John Hannah) moment worked out because I’ve no idea what I’d have done, and that’s what’s scary.

“I had wanted to be an architect at one stage, or work in hair and beauty.

“So I don’t know, maybe I’d have fallen back on running a salon as a Plan B.”

Appearing as a housemate in Celebrity Big Brother, presenting its spin-off series and regular presenting stints on This Morning have followed.

This Morning in particular has brought Rylan to a whole new audience.

And, always keen to improve, every day has been a school day alongside veterans Philip Schofield, Holly Willoughby, Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford.

“I owe a lot of my career to the four of them,” confides Rylan. “I’ve worked alongside them for four years and learned so much.

“I’ve been like an apprentice learning on the job. There are so many people in this industry who are quick to tell you when you’ve done something wrong.

“But if I do something right Ruth and Eamonn are the first two people to come and tell me it was great.

“They’re my telly mum and dad and I love them to bits.”

And that nice approach is something Rylan has embraced in a TV world where backbiting and looking after No.1 is par for the course, always coming with the most insincere of showbiz smiles, of course.

“I went through a terrible time on X Factor and people still say stuff about me now,” reveals Rylan.

“But I think if you ask anyone in this industry they’ll say I’m a nice person.

“I don’t argue with people and I treat anyone from a runner to the head of a channel exactly the same.

“There are a lot of horrible people in this business and I don’t ever want to be that person. I’m grateful for what I do. I’m a normal kid who has done all right and I just want it to stay that way.”

Rylan spread his wings into the game show world with ITV’s Babushka and he’s back early next year with a new original series on UKTV channel W.

Rather than the usual studio-set format, The Wave was filmed in sunny Portugal.

Contestants work in teams, with one staying on the beach with Rylan to answer questions for cash while their partner has to swim between pontoons in the often-choppy seas.

It’s anything but a relaxing day at the beach and if Rylan thought staying ashore was the safe option, he soon learned otherwise.

“The weather was beautiful but the Atlantic could so unpredictable.

“One day we were filming and these huge waves suddenly crashed in and wiped out the set. We had to run for our lives.

“But it was a brilliant thing to get involved with. Because it’s a brand new show I knew I could make it my own.”

Rylan handles the format with his usual confidence but he admits that he couldn’t possibly have imagined his starry life when he was a child.

“I really wasn’t that confident back then. I was the little ginger gay kid. All I’d have needed was the glasses and I would have had the full set.

“I had the world against me. Look, I went to a good school and I had good friends, but I was bullied.

“I was a kid struggling with my sexuality who was also a bit overweight, so there was everything to pick on.

“I was a bully’s dream. But coming through those pains is where I get my confidence now.”

Rylan’s stand-in stints on This Morning have included sharing the sofa with his husband Dan Neal, a former Big Brother star.

The pair wed just over two years ago and although he’s a big part of the celebrity world, privacy is important.

“I love my job but the one thing I wish is that the instant I finish my bit on TV people would instantly forget who I am,” he confides. “That would be lovely.

“I’m not a big celebrity but I’m so recognisable – I’m 6ft 4in, I’ve got the teeth, the beard, the hair – that I wish I’d made the most of not being known.

“I don’t really go out much and lead a quiet life but it is tough to stay private. I don’t want to have my relationship all over the magazines.

“A lot of people who only know of me might think I’m in the magazines every week selling my soul but I’m really not.

“You get rumours all the time that people believe. I get my mum calling me up and asking if we’ve split up or are adopting a baby.

“She reads this stuff in magazines – and she only lives five minutes away from me!”

Rylan’s regularly round looking after his mum, who has Crohn’s disease.

“She doesn’t keep too well, so I always try and make sure she’s all right,” says Rylan. “We’re not a family that have come from money and she raised me as a single mum so it’s nice to be able to help her out.

“I get asked if I have to pinch myself to take in all that’s happened – trust me I’d be bruised all over.

“So much has happened in the past five years and I know I’m so lucky.

“After X Factor I thought I might earn some money for a few months from doing club appearances.

“With that and Big Brother I was just happy to have done two of my favourite shows.

“I could never have imagined all of this.”

The Wave airs on W in the New Year.