BBC’s The One Show presenter Roman Kemp has opened up about his childhood and the devastating pitfalls of fame after seeing his pop star mum, Shirlie Kemp, sobbing for days
Kathryn Ingate Deputy Editor of Trendswatch
08:00, 06 Nov 2025
Martin Kemp, Shirlie Kemp and Roman Kemp(Image: (Image: Antony Jones/Getty Images for Tu at Sainsbury’s))
Roman Kemp grew up under the glare of the spotlight and it wasn’t long before he experienced the harsh realities of fame, having seen his pop star mum, Shirlie Kemp, in tears for days on end.
Just a few months prior to participating in Celebrity Race Across the World 2025 with his elder sister Harleymoon Kemp, 36, a competition that will see the siblings racing 5,900km across Central America on a budget of just £30 per day, Roman, 32, spoke candidly about the most memorable struggle from his childhood.
During a chat with singer Tom Grennan on their You About? podcast, Roman recalled memories of him and Harleymoon appearing in national magazines alongside their famous parents during a time when the family was financially strained.
Shirlie and her husband Martin Kemp, who was part of the band Spandau Ballet before taking on the role of Steve Owen in BBC soap EastEnders, were grappling with financial difficulties due to the musician’s health issues in the nineties.
Roman and Harleymoon Kemp are swapping the life of luxury for backpacks (Image: BBC/Studio Lambert)
Martin was diagnosed with two brain tumours and had to undergo surgery to have them removed.
“My parents had no money at the time because my dad had all these operations and s*** for his brain, so, like, they were trying to get more money,” Roman explained to podcast co-host Tom.
He further confessed that despite their appearances as a family on magazine covers, Martin and Shirlie were still worried about their children being photographed by paparazzi whilst on holiday.
Roman went on: “But then, even up to when I was maybe 13, if we’d gone on holiday, we were never allowed to go to the beach because when we went on the beach, my mum and dad would always be like, ‘there it is’ and you’d see a boat come past, quite far out, and then, like, stop, and there would just be a long lens camera just taking pictures of kids on beaches.”
Martin and Shirlie Kemp were both in the music industry(Image: Getty Images)
Roman poignantly revealed his mum would frequently be left in tears after seeing photographs the paparazzi had captured of them appearing in the press.
He said: “It’s mad in that sense, you see it less and less now, like those old celebrity pictures on the beach, you see that a lot less now.
“But at the time, my whole life, me growing up, was my mum crying because they’re taking horrendous pictures and they’d only use the worst picture.”
Looking back on a particularly distressing incident after a holiday, Roman said Shirlie “cried for, like, five days” when images of the family on a banana boat were printed in the press.
Before Celebrity Race Across the World airs on Thursday evening, Harleymoon revealed she was initially offered the opportunity to appear on the BBC programme with her mum, but Shirlie had reservations, so the pair didn’t take part.
Roman Kemp and his sister Harleymoon appeared on magazine covers with their parents(Image: LightRocket via Getty Images)
Harleymoon told the Radio Times: “My mum was asked to be in the first Celebrity Race Across the World and was going to take me, but thought it sounded too hard. I was glad to have another chance to go.”
Roman, who has been candid about his battles with anxiety and depression, shared his reasons for joining the series: “I came off all medication [antidepressants] over a year ago and the race was a good test for my anxiety.
“It’s probably the best thing I’ve ever done on television, but doing the race itself was hell! I used to watch it and wonder why a contestant was crying – well, that was me.”
Celebrity Race Across the World airs tonight at 8pm on BBC One.
