Nicky Campbell emotional as he opens up about 2013 breakdown
Nicky Campbell fought back tears as he opened up about his public breakdown during an emotional interview.
The radio and TV presenter appeared on Lorraine for a moving interview in which he discussed being adopted, his breakdown in a park in 2013 and his bipolar diagnosis, which he has written about in a new book.
Asked by host Ranvir Singh what is was like to write about it the breakdown, the Long Lost Family presenter said: “Over the last 11 years on Long Lost Family people have been so honest with us, amazingly honest.
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“It’s just the most incredible thing to have been involved in and I’ve met so many birth mothers, it’s helped me understand my birth mother, so many adopted mothers, so many adopted children like myself and I just thought, they’ve been honest with us, it’s my turn in a sense to be completely honest.
“And if you’re going to talk about this stuff you can’t be sparing.”
'It's my turn to be completely honest.'@NickyAACampbell emotionally shares his experience of dealing with a bipolar diagnosis and how his dog, Maxwell, helped him through.
Watch in full ➡️https://t.co/vn8NeFi106 pic.twitter.com/MHCa53p453— Lorraine (@lorraine) February 18, 2021
Struggling to hold back tears, he went on: “Just thinking about it now, I’ll try and get through the sentence, just dropping to my knees when everything fell on top of me, outside Euston Station and just sobbing.”
Campbell was later diagnosed as having bipolar disorder.
He told Singh he is doing “great”, sharing that his love of dogs had been a help.
“Getting a diagnosis and knowing what was wrong all your life has just been fantastic,” he said. “My friends have been amazing. If this resonates with people it’s all kind of worth it.”
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Campbell was adopted as a baby and traced his birth parents later in life.
His adoptive mother passed away in 2019, and the star said the book is dedicated to her.
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He said: “The worst thing is when people say, ‘Did you ever trace your real mum?’ and I go, ‘My adopted mum is my real mum and she was the most incredible woman’. She died just before COVID. I count my blessings every day we were able to have a funeral.”
Campbell's new book is called One of the Family: Why A Dog Called Maxwell Changed My Life.
Lorraine is on weekdays from 9am on ITV.
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