Sian Welby has opened up for the first time about the devastating loss of her close friend and producer Joe Lyons, five years after he died by suicide.

The This Morning presenter, 38, revealed she’s ‘never really processed’ the tragedy and her heartbreak has been compounded by losing other friends to suicide.

During a live Capital Breakfast show in August 2020, Sian and her then-co-hosts, Roman Kemp and Sonny Jay, were informed that Joe – beloved by listeners, guests and colleagues alike – had died.

‘You just can’t imagine it,’ Sian said. ‘Everyone has a moment in their life where they have that fear when someone hasn’t come home or they’re for something. 

‘You try not to go to the worst-case scenario because you think it, oh, will be fine, I’m sure there’s an explanation.

‘For us, it was why Joe hadn’t come to work – because he was always the first one in.’

Sian Welby has opened up for the first time about the devastating loss of her close friend and producer Joe Lyons, five years after he died by suicide 

During a live Capital Breakfast show in August 2020, Sian and her then-co-hosts, Roman Kemp and Sonny Jay, were informed that Joe (left) – beloved by listeners, guests and colleagues alike – had died; pictured Roman and Joe 

After the team received the devastating news, Sian and her co-hosts left the studio mid-show, and stand-in presenters took over for the remainder of the week to allow them time to grieve.

The following week, they returned to the airwaves to pay tribute to their friend and former producer Joe.

Sonny stepped down from the show in 2022 to take over from Mavin Humes hosting The Capital Late Show, while Roman – son of Martin and Shirlie Kemp – left last April, saying explicitly that Joe’s loss had left him unable to continue.

Speaking on a new episode of The Lulu Podcast, Sian now recalled how Joe had shown no visible signs of struggling – keeping any pain hidden behind his cheerful, upbeat exterior.

She said: ‘None of us knew, and you’d never know. And actually, I have lost other friends the same way, and they’re always the life and soul – lovely, fun characters.

‘Everyone loved him. All the celebrities loved him. He’d come in and look after all the guests, and everyone knew Joe. Like, everyone adored him.’

She continued: ‘I spoke to friends about it, and we all had this shared trauma as a team that we sort of all felt we could talk about. We felt we could all talk together and get through it, but I maybe I’ve just never really processed it.

‘I can’t believe it’s real. And it was so shocking – it came so out of nowhere – that I think a lot of us haven’t really [processed it].’

The This Morning presenter, 38, revealed she’s ‘never really processed’ the tragedy and her heartbreak has been compounded by losing other friends to suicide

Sian recalled: ‘You just can’t imagine it. Everyone has a moment in their life where they have that fear when someone hasn’t come home. For us, it was why Joe hadn’t come to work – because he was always the first one in’

She said: ‘None of us knew, and you’d never know. And actually, I have lost other friends the same way, and they’re always the life and soul – lovely, fun characters. Everyone loved him. All the celebrities loved him. Like, everyone adored him’ 

Sian continued: ‘I spoke to friends about it, and we all had this shared trauma as a team that we sort of all felt we could talk about. We felt we could all talk together and get through it, but I maybe I’ve just never really processed it. I can’t believe it’s real’; pictured Roman and Joe 

Despite the enduring impact of the loss, Sian revealed she’s never had professional help to work through her grief.

‘My mum and my sister are very good listeners and very good talkers, and maybe I use them in some ways as my therapy,’ she reflected.

Since Sonny and Roman’s departures, she now hosts Capital Breakfast alongside Jordan North and Chris Stark. ‘There is something magical happening with us three that’s hard to explain,’ she said.

‘It could just be the timing, where we all are in life, but it’s just a lovely, lovely show to work on, and our team is even better. And everything’s come together.’

Following Joe’s death, in 2021, Roman fronted a BBC documentary called Our Silent Emergency about male suicide and mental health.  

Roman admitted he ‘hated’ Joe when making the documentary as he struggled to deal with his grief but learned to love him all over again.

In memory of his late friend, Roman got a bird tattoo on his thigh explaining: ‘Joe had this tattoo and I always used to say it was awful and looked like a pigeon. So I got it in the same spot…’

Another major change for Sian recently was welcoming her first child, daughter Ruby, last year with partner Jake Beckett.

Speaking about her decision to try for a baby, she said: ‘I was in a very happy place in my relationship and in my life and I thought, if I’m going to do it, I will do it now. 

‘It wasn’t a surprise particularly, but it was how quick it happened… You spend most of your life being careful not to, and then suddenly when you need to, you go, can I even have them?’

Despite the challenges of juggling a newborn with her radio show, she returned to work after just three months because she feared she would be replaced.

Sonny stepped down from the show in 2022 to take over hosting The Capital Late Show, while Roman – son of actor Martin Kemp and singer Shirlie Holliman – left last April, saying explicitly that Joe’s loss had left him unable to continue

Following Joe’s death, in 2021, Roman fronted a BBC documentary called Our Silent Emergency about male suicide and mental health

In memory of his late friend, Roman got a bird tattoo on his thigh explaining : ‘Joe had this tattoo and I always used to say it was awful and looked like a pigeon. So I got it in the same spot…’

Read More Sian Welby admits she thought she would lose her presenting role on This Morning

The presenter explained: ‘That’s how it felt because this show had just launched, and I didn’t want to have so much time off that it got a new life with someone else.’

Still, Sian made sure to cherish the time she had with her daughter, ‘Although it was killing me getting up at 4am, I knew I could come home. I knew that I could sleep if I needed to. I knew I had the afternoons to spend with my baby. 

‘So I enjoyed those three months of just me and her, and it was amazing – longest time I’ve ever had not working in my adult life.’

She credited her partner Jake – a radio producer – with making it all possible, she told listeners: ‘I’m very lucky that Jake is incredible, and he really has let me do my thing.

‘Without him being at home with Ruby, I couldn’t have done it. I couldn’t have gone back to work after three months if it wasn’t for him.

‘We’ve made this work by him sacrificing his job. He was a top producer on Heart Breakfast. He said, “Sian, it makes sense for you to go back”. I had this new show popping off, and I was doing This Morning, and he said, “it makes sense”.

‘He is an incredible man in my life who has supported me and let me flourish, and then he has done an incredible job with our daughter. And they had the best bond… I just watched him become incredible with her.

‘And now it’s such a great dynamic because we both know her just as well as the other. It’s not like one’s the expert. So it’s a really nice situation where I sort of tap him in and out. We both tap each other out.’

If you have been affected by this story please contact Samaritans on: 116 123 or email: [email protected]