Rylan Clark has broken his silence on the return of Big Brother.
The TV presenter, 34, won Celebrity Big Brother in 2013 and hosted Big Brother’s Bit on the Side from that year until 2018.
But Rylan will not be involved in ITV’s new Big Brother: The Launch. Instead, AJ Odudu and Will Best were appointed as the new co-hosts.
Proving he holds no hard feelings, Rylan took to Instagram to wish the couple the best of luck.
He wrote: “Good luck to the @bbuk team. Have a fantastic series and welcome back Big Bro k.’
Speaking: Rylan Clark has broken his silence on the return of Big Brother
New presenters: Rylan will not be involved in ITV’s new Big Brother: The Launch. Instead, AJ Odudu and Will Best were appointed as the new co-hosts
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Big Brother will air on ITV in 2023, five years after it was axed by Channel 5.
Speaking about the reboot, Rylan told the Dish podcast: “I’ve wanted that show back since the day it ended. I haven’t left it yet… but it’s a new era of Big Brother.’
Although there have been calls for the star to take over as host, he admitted: “I don’t know what’s going to happen. I know Emma (Willis) said she wasn’t coming back. I don’t know if any of us will be there.
“I didn’t hide it, and I still won’t hide it, of course I would like to come back.” It was such a big part of my life.’
Speaking about her new role, AJ said: “I’m so excited to finally be able to say it, yes: I’m hosting Big Brother! I couldn’t be happier.’
She added: “Following in the footsteps of some of my favorite broadcasting legends to front such an iconic show is an absolute honor – and to do it alongside my amazing friend Will is the icing on the cake.”
Will explained: “I grew up watching Big Brother so it’s a dream to have the chance to host it with my pal AJ. I can’t wait to tell some of the housemates not to swear.’
It comes just over a year after Rylan was forced to cancel all of his work commitments after suffering a meltdown when his marriage to husband Dan Neill broke down.
The presenter was hospitalized following his split from wife Dan, admitting he then felt he would become a ‘danger to himself’ after his weight dropped to just nine hundred.
Return: The TV presenter, 34, won Celebrity Big Brother in 2013 and hosted Big Brother’s Bit on the Side from that year until 2018.
He wrote: “Good luck to the @bbuk team. Have a fantastic series and welcome back Big Bro k.’
Now, speaking on his Re-Union podcast, the star admitted it was “really hard” to deal with his mental health after he and Dan split in June.
He said: “I never thought in my life that I would go through such a crisis.
“But I did, eventually, and it literally hit me in the face like a baseball bat, because I always thought I was too strong for that.
‘Like, I’m never going to let something like that happen to me, but then it does and it’s really, really hard to deal with.’
Rylan was married to husband Dan for six years before they split in June 2021, with the star taking a four-month break from her TV and radio career to deal with the aftermath.
Last year Rylan told the Observer that he was hospitalized “for safety reasons” after refusing to eat.
He said: “It’s really weird talking about this because I haven’t even told my friends about it. I never thought I could get so sick.
“I’m down to just over 9st and I’m 6ft 4in. It got bad. Like, very bad. And I didn’t think it would get any better. I needed help.’
The former X Factor contestant admitted that he ‘didn’t know himself at certain times’ and that he ‘had thoughts and did things that screwed him up’.
He continued: “I didn’t think I’d be here. I didn’t think I could go on (working or living). I didn’t think I’d actually come back. I was very… gone.’
Rylan admitted in an interview with The Sun that he had become “dangerously thin” and “mentally ill” after splitting from husband Dan Neill last year.
The presenter was hospitalized following his split from wife Dan, after his weight dropped to just nine stone (pictured together in 2017)
And while Rylan admits life was ‘s**t’ after the break-up, he has since bounced back, concentrating on his health and diet as he slimmed down in the gym, putting on four stone.
He said: ‘I got sick and I lost weight, I dropped under ten stone – and I’m six foot four so it’s not good. The honest truth is that it was s**t.’
Rylan and his ex Dan met when Dan was a housemate on series 14 of Big Brother in 2013 and Rylan was hosting spin-off show Big Brother’s Bit On The Side.
The former couple tied the knot in November 2015 after Dan asked Rylan to marry him in Paris.
Big Brother starts on Sunday 8 October at 9pm on ITV1, ITV2 and ITVX.