The TV presenter was the latest star to appear on the ITV programme The Assembly
Rylan Clark has faced a series of tough questions(Image: ITV)
Rylan Clark has opened up about seeing some of his friends get ‘cancelled’ as he warned people ‘don’t believe everything you read’.
The X Factor and This Morning star is the latest famous face set to be seen taking on the popular ITV series The Assembly. Premiering last year, the series sees a group of inquisitive interviewers who are autistic, neurodivergent and/or learning disabled put questions to celebrities.
It was praised by viewers for being a heartwarming and insightful series, with the first batch of episodes seeing the likes of Doctor Who legend David Tennant, pop singer Jade Thirlwall and former EastEnders actor Danny Dyer answering a series of hard-hitting questions. Series two kicked off last month.
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To date, viewers have seen former QI host Stephen Fry, former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, comedian Sir Lenny Henry, Line of Duty’s Anna Maxwell Martin and Manchester rapper Aitch take the hot seat. After several weeks away, The Assembly is back on Saturday night (May 23).
Answering a series of questions on topics such as cheating on his former husband Dan Neal, coming out to his mum Linda and navigating being famous, one poignant moment saw a man named Jacob ask him how he ‘copes when one of your celebrity friends is cancelled’.
Rylan responded: “It’s really tough, especially because some of them are not just my work friends, they’re genuinely some of my best friends. At the end of the day, if someone’s done something wrong, I understand why they can’t carry on doing what they’re doing.
Scott Mills and Rylan Clark
“I do feel today, we live in a world where people will want to go for you and cancel you just for the sake of just doing it because they can. Don’t always believe what you hear or read. Don’t be fighting to ask why.”
It’s unclear just who Rylan is referring to, due to the exact time the episode was filmed not being shared. However, earlier in the month he did travel to Austria for the Eurovision Song Contest without Scott Mills.
Rylan and Scott commentated on the annual singing competition together for a number of years, with them featuring on the television coverage of the semi-finals and the radio coverage of the grand final. However, last month saw Mills dropped by the BBC shortly before it emerged the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into him in 2016 over allegations of serious sexual offences involving a teenage boy under 16 between 1997 and 2000.
The BBC has admitted it knew about a police investigation into allegations of a historical sexual offence in 2017 but said it ‘acted decisively’ after receiving ‘new information’ in the weeks before his sacking.
Days after the news was confirmed, Mills released a statement through his lawyers saying he had been the subject of ‘rumour and speculation’ since he was fired, and that he ‘co-operated fully’ with the police investigation into allegations of a historical sexual offence.
Bolton’s Sara Cox will replace him on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, with her joining Rylan for the Eurovision final coverage. Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon stepped in for Mills for the semi-finals, where they were heard on BBC One.