Tom Bradby's life off camera- Health battle, Harry friendship and second career
Tom Bradby's hotly-anticipated interview with Prince Harry is set to enthral viewers with more revelations from the loose-lipped Duke when it airs on ITV tonight.
Harry is on the publicity trail as he promotes his memoir Spare, as he seeks to 'tell his truth' about his turbulent life as a young royal growing up in the spotlight and why he decided to turn his back on the monarchy.
While many details have already leaked, after the book was accidentally sold in Spain five days before the official publication date, early previews for his TV interviews promise Harry has not saved his biggest revelations for print.
It's unlikely Harry will get off too lightly as he sits down with newsreader and journalist Tom Bradby, with the pair going back twenty years.
Best known for presenting the channel's News at 10 show, Tom, 55, has also shared details of his own personal struggles in the past.
England star Joe Marler reflects on lowest point after fight with pregnant wife
He previously opened up about suffering a "complete breakdown" in 2018 after his wife Claudia warned he was at a "very dangerous cliff edge".
Fast-forward four years and Tom has now bagged an exclusive interview with Spare star Harry. So as the nation prepares to tune into see what the Duke has to say, we take a look at the man behind the questions.
Tom Bradby has worked for ITV since 1990 (©Adam Lawrence 2015)'Complete breakdown'
Tom suffered a "hideous" breakdown in 2018.
The journalist had been signed off work for three months as he struggled with insomnia and an increasing addiction to sleeping pills.
Tom was urged by his wife Claudia, with whom he shares three children, to see a psychiatrist as she warned her husband was close to a "very dangerous cliff-edge".
Appearing on Loos e Women, speaking out about the ordeal, Tom said his insomnia was "100 times worse" than being shot.
The journalist suffered a "hideous breakdown" in 2018 (Getty Images)He also said the breakdown led him to end up lying on the floor outside his bedroom, telling host Ruth Langsford he feared he was "going mad".
Surprising poster boy for mental health
Talking recently to the Downing Street director of communications Craig Oliver on Oliver's podcast, Tom shared his experience, making him an unlikely poster boy for mental health.
"For anyone who doesn’t know, I had a quite public breakdown a few years ago, and I had to go through a very intense signed-off work three months from insomnia and had to go through some intense psychological rebooting process," he said.
Tom said he became a "poster boy for losing control" (ITV/REX)The journalist, who has worked for ITV news producer ITN for three decades, said he became a "poster boy for having a breakdown and losing control."
'So fed up of tiresome pal flirting with my husband and always putting me down'
Tom continued: "One of the really nice things about [sharing your issues] is people feel able to come and talk to me about when they're not feeling well.
"And it just makes you realise, God, how many people out there are suffering and need help?"
Tom also explained there was “one advantage of having complete breakdown.
"It leaves you wide open to the possibility of entirely rewiring your mental processes. In the depths of despair, what other choice is there?” he shared, candidly.
Friendship with Prince Harry
Tom was ITV's royal correspondent when he first got to know Prince Harry.
The journalist was chosen to conduct William and Kate's engagement interview and attended both of the Prince's weddings.
His interview with Prince Harry looks set to be explosiveHe then hosted a documentary covering the Sussexes' trip to southern Africa in 2019 - effectively launching Megzit.
In the interview, Meghan thanked Tom for asking if she was OK while Harry admitted that he and his brother William were 'on different paths'.
This, of course, was before Spare and in tonight's Harry: The Interview, the Duke of Sussex is said to go into unprecedented depth with Tom about life in and out of the Royal family, and his life with his wife Meghan.
Tom has also interviewed Meghan (ITV)A new extended video has divulged more of the chat in which Tom asks Harry about "invading the privacy" of his family, and whether he still believes in the Monarchy.
Secret career
As well as being a respected news anchor, Tom writes thrillers.
He promoted his latest novel ahead of the release of Prince Harry's bombshell interview tonight.
On Thursday evening, Tom took to Twitter to promote his suspense thriller, Yesterday's Spy.
"The big news of today; it is paperback publication day for the critically acclaimed Yesterday's Spy!," he tweeted, excitedly.
The blurb about the book says: "A man in search of his son, An agent on the run from the past, A country on the verge of revolution..."
Family life
Tom is married to Claudia Bradby, 55, a jewellery designer that worked with Kate Middleton at Jigsaw.
Tom is married to jewellery designer Claudia (PA)
The couple have three children (Getty Images)The pair got hitched in 1994 and share three children Jack, 24, Louisa, 22 and Sam, 21.
Little is known about Tom and Claudia's wedding, but they did go to Harry and Meghan's.
Writing in her blog about the star-studded event in Windsor, Claudia mused: "It all feels like a dream now that I am back at home, catching up on domestic chores in my old jeans.
"But I did go, honest…. I have to pinch myself to get back to the hour before the service when we were wandering past George Clooney, Idris Elba and Earl Spencer, who were all rubbing shoulders whilst standing over the tomb in which Charles I’s headless corpse is interred."
• Harry: The Interview airs on ITV on Sunday at 9pm.
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