{"id":550954,"date":"2026-01-29T06:32:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:32:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/550954\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T06:32:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T06:32:14","slug":"clara-amfo-depression-doesnt-define-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/550954\/","title":{"rendered":"Clara Amfo: ‘Depression doesn’t define me"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI\u2019m not a winter person at all,\u201d says Clara Amfo<\/a>. \u201cI despise being cold and I really hate slow, dark nights.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 41-year-old former Radio 1 DJ and TV presenter is not alone. While traditional understanding of the \u201cJanuary blues<\/a>\u201d tends to focus on a single low point \u2013 \u201cBlue Monday<\/a>\u201d \u2013 new research flags the grim, emotional long haul of \u201cquiet coping\u201d, with a population suffering from lowered mood and \u201cprolonged social fatigue\u201d.<\/p>\n

Amfo is the face of a new campaign by Odeon cinemas, in support of the mental health<\/a> charity Mind, arguing that the cinema can provide a little \u201cBig Screen Therapy\u201d to help take the edge off the midwinter funk.<\/p>\n

Amfo often lives in a fizz of high-octane social activity, and finds films offer a powerful decompression valve. \u201cSometimes you crave cheesy escapism,\u201d she says, talking via video call from the back of a car on her way to present The One Show. \u201cSometimes it can be helpful to confront issues you\u2019re struggling with: grief, illness, a break-up, self esteem problems\u2026 Seeing those things on screen can help you to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ClaraAmfo lovs the \u2018anonymity\u2019 of the cinema (Photo: Sean Collymore)<\/p>\n

When she quit Radio 1 last year (later beginning to host ITV\u2019s Studio Sessions), media reports suggested that Amfo\u2019s struggle with depression drove her departure. But today she tells me that isn\u2019t really the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did an interview with my mate in July of last year,\u201d she says, and a mention of depression \u201cgot blown up into a huge headline, which I found extremely frustrating, I can\u2019t lie. It got completely sensationalised and that ground my gears\u201d. She exhales. \u201cDepression<\/a> is something I have experienced and there is no shame in that. But it isn\u2019t my defining thing. I have friends who have dealt with clinical depression in ways that I have not\u2026\u201d She wants to put her own \u201cdark moments\u201d in a context that is \u201crespectful to them\u201d.<\/p>\n

One of five children born in London, to Ghanaian parents, Amfo says her favourite childhood films were Sister Act II and The Lion King. \u201cThe Lion King was a much harder watch for me after my dad died in 2015,\u201d she says. But she also recalls how her dad \u2013 who \u201cabsolutely loved Denzel Washington, who was refined, measured, and principled like him\u201d \u2013 would rent Sister Act II for her. Some of the appeal was \u201cabout representation\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing Whoopi Goldberg and Lauryn Hill together on screen was really powerful,\u201d she recalls. \u201cTwo beautiful, dark-skinned, black women. Colourism is still very prevalent in our society, within my community for sure. Seeing Whoopi and Lauryn lead that movie made me feel good about myself.\u201d Having \u201cmet so many of my heroes in my job\u201d, she expected to be able to keep things professional when she met Hill. \u201cBut when I met Lauryn I just sobbed on her: I told her I had seen everything she has done and how grateful I am and\u2026 wahhhh!\u201d She pantomimes the tears for comic effect.<\/p>\n

\"FromAmfo hosts ITV\u2019s \u2018Studio Sessions\u2019 music series (Photo: Melody Berkery\/ITV)<\/p>\n

After studying media arts at St Mary\u2019s University College, Amfo began her career as a marketing intern for Kiss FM before joining BBC Radio 1Xtra as host of the weekend breakfast show in 2013, and beginning to host MTV\u2019s Official UK Top 40 the same year. Soon, she took over from Fearne Cotton<\/a> hosting Radio 1\u2019s mid-morning show and hit the headlines in 2020 for making a powerful speech on air about the murder of George Floyd<\/a>, racism and the effect on her own mental health.<\/p>\n

Living and processing her emotions so publicly meant Amfo has always enjoyed the privacy of the cinema<\/a>. \u201cI love the darkness of the cinema, and I do love the anonymity it offers. One of my favourite things is choosing where to sit,\u201d she explains. \u201cI\u2019m definitely a last-three-rows type of girl. I usually go for a corner so I\u2019m not stepping over people or having people step over me, but I guess that\u2019s sort of inevitable, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

She loves \u201cthe feeling of everyone being together, submerged in darkness, with a quiet understanding of the rules: like, don\u2019t talk too loudly, eat your food responsibly\u201d \u2013 she\u2019s a chocolate buttons and sweet\u2019n\u2019salty popcorn fan, but doesn\u2019t care for fizzy sweets \u2013 \u201cand react appropriately to the film\u201d.<\/p>\n

Amfo would urge anybody battling a low social battery to try going to the cinema alone. She notes that the \u201cpressure\u201d to enjoy ourselves in groups begins \u201cthe minute you start school. You come home and your mum asks: \u2018Did you make any friends?\u2019 Then you get a job and you want to be invited to after-work drinks\u2026\u201d she shakes her head. \u201cBut when you make that first adult decision: \u2018You know what, I\u2019m doing something by myself,\u2019 it feels quite a nice milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n

When did Amfo first start going to the cinema alone? \u201cProbably when I was about 26, 27,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m a super social person \u2013 I love to be in community. But I also really cherish my alone time<\/a>. I\u2019m also quite impatient and I don\u2019t always want to co-ordinate all my friends. I\u2019ve never regretted going to see a film alone. You\u2019re watching with your own eyes, ears, biases. You\u2019re not having to confer with somebody else. Then you might have that lovely little moment of interaction with a stranger on your way out. You might never see that person again but it\u2019s a cute little exchange, a connection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DANIEL\u2018People couldn\u2019t wait to discuss it,\u2019 Amfo remembers of hit 2017 film \u2018Get Out\u2019 (Photo: Universal Pictures)<\/p>\n

Amfo also hymns the buzz you get during \u201cculture-shifting\u201d event films such as 2017 horror-mystery Get Out<\/a>, in which a young black man discovers shocking secrets when he meets the family of his white girlfriend. \u201cI remember walking out and the cinema was buzzing with debate,\u201d she recalls. \u201cPeople couldn\u2019t wait to discuss it \u2013 they were laughing together, screaming together, shouting. In my circle of friends, people say things like, \u2018That person\u2019s in the Sunken Place now\u2019, and everyone instantly knows what it means because they\u2019ve watched Get Out.\u201d<\/p>\n

As somebody who \u201cwas born for the sun\u201d, Amfo is hoping that movie-going continues to boost her spirits through these murky winter days. \u201cEscaping into films, music, TV, books, or just enjoying warming food, that\u2019s my solace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clara Amfo fronts Odeon\u2019s latest campaign, drawing on research into changing attitudes towards being alone and shared cultural spaces such as cinema, in support of mental health charity Mind<\/strong><\/p>\n

\t\tYour next read<\/p>\n


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