Rylan Clark quits Stricty’s It Takes Two after four years

Rylan Clark has announced that he is retiring from It Takes Two after four years.

The presenter, 34, took to Instagram on Tuesday and released a statement telling Strictly fans that he was ‘saying goodbye’ to the spin-off show to ‘discover what else life has for me’.

It comes just over a year after Rylan was forced to cancel all his work commitments after suffering a breakdown when his marriage to husband Dan Neal ended.

The presenter’s statement read: ‘After four fantastic years, it’s time for me to hang up my glitter jacket and say goodbye to It Takes Two.

‘I’ve had the best time hosting the show with Janette and Zoe and I can’t thank the amazing team enough for always putting on a great show.

“I have been welcomed into the Strictly family and will hold that title dear to my heart.

“The time has come to pass the baton to someone else and explore what else life has to offer me.

“Thank you Strictly, you will have my heart and dancing feet.”

‘It’s been a pleasure’: The presenter, 34, took to Instagram on Tuesday and released a statement telling Strictly fans he was ‘saying goodbye’ to the spin-off show to ‘discover what else life has for me ‘.

A host of Rylan’s celebrity friends took to the comment section to share their support for his decision.

Angela Scanlon posted lots of love heart emojis, while Strictly contestant Tyler West wrote, “Love you Ry.”

Last year, Rylan described how his mental health issues “hit him like a baseball bat” after he was forced to take a break from work commitments last year.

The presenter was hospitalized in the wake of his split from husband Dan Neal, then admitted he felt he had become ‘a danger to himself’ after dropping his weight to just nine stone.

Now, speaking on his Ry-Union podcast, the star admitted it was “really, really hard” to deal with his mental health issues after he and Dan split in June.

He said, “I never thought in my life that I would go through such a crisis.

“But eventually I did and it literally hit me in the face like a baseball bat because I always thought I was too strong for it.

“Something like, I’ll never let something like that happen to me, but then it happens 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 his TV and radio work to deal with the fallout.

Last year, he shared that he was hospitalized in the wake of his divorce from Dan, telling The Observer it was “for safety reasons” after he refused to eat.

He said, ‘It’s really strange to talk about this because I haven’t even talked to my friends about it. I just never thought I could get this sick.

“I went down to a little over 9th and I’m six feet tall. It got bad. Like, very much. And I didn’t think it would get any better. I needed help.’

The former X Factor contestant confessed that he “didn’t know himself at certain points” and “had thoughts and did things that confused him.”

He continued, “I didn’t think I’d be here. I didn’t think I could go on [to work or to live]. I didn’t think I would actually come back. I was very… gone.”

Rylan admitted in a recent interview with The Sun that he became “dangerously thin” and “mentally unwell” following his split from husband Dan Neal last year.

And while Rylan admits that post-breakup life was “s**t,” he’s since bounced back and focused on his health and diet as he cleaned up in the gym and put on four bricks.

He said: ‘I got sick and I lost weight, I dropped under ten stone – and I’m six feet tall, so that’s not good. The honest truth is it’s been s**t.’

Rylan and his ex Dan met when Dan was a roommate on Series 14 of Big Brother in 2013, with Rylan hosting the spin-off show Big Brother’s Bit On The Side.

The former couple got married in November 2015 after Dan proposed to Rylan in Paris.

If you are affected by anything in this article and need support, please call the Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.