Roman Kemp shares his parents' eyebrow-raising response to his Brits hosting gig

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Roman Kemp shares his parents
Roman Kemp shares his parents' eyebrow-raising response to his Brits hosting gig

Roman Kemp has spoken about preparing to host the Brit Awards later this weekend, including the support that he's received from his parents Martin Kemp and Shirlie Kemp.

The radio host, 31, will front the music awards ceremony on Saturday night alongside Clara Amfo and Maya Jama. The trio will co-host the event from the O2 Arena in London, following in the footsteps of last year's host Mo Gilligan.

Ahead of the occasion, Roman appeared on ITV's Lorraine to discuss his preparations for the role. He was interviewed by guest presenter Louise Minchin, 55, who was covering for regular host Lorraine Kelly, on Friday morning's episode.

During the interview earlier, Roman said about hosting the Brit Awards: "This one is not lost on me at all. I know how much of a privilege this is to be able to say that you're part of an alumni that has presented this in the past."

He went on to discuss his parents Martin, 62, and Shirlie, 61, who have attended the event themselves in the past. Martin was once a member of Spandau Ballet, whilst his wife was a backing singer for Wham! and in the duo Pepsi & Shirlie.

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Roman Kemp shares his parents' eyebrow-raising response to his Brits hosting gigRoman Kemp (right) spoke about his parents Martin Kemp (left) and Shirlie Kemp (centre) in an interview this week ahead of hosting the Brit Awards (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Louise asked Roman if his parents give him advice and he said: "Yeah, of course. I mean, I went straight to them [about the Brit Awards]. Y'know my mum and dad they don't really give me advice but they're just there for the support. Anything I need."

He continued by sharing their response to being invited to this year's ceremony, which seemed to surprise him. Roman said: "The funny thing is that I asked both my mum and dad .. I was like 'oh do you wanna come to the Brits?' and they were like 'no, busy, we're working sorry'. And I was like 'oh right'."

Roman said he received the same response from his older sister Harley Kemp when he invited her. He added about his family: "So I just kinda... I'm just out there doing it and I'm sure they'll see it on catch-up. But they're supportive."

The Capital FM host also shared that he was "nearly in tears" when he found out that he would be hosting the event. He said that it "means a lot" and revealed that he had reached out to some celebrity pals for advice on hosting.

He said: "I'm lucky enough that y'know some of my friends [are] people that have presented it in the past. I was straight away on the phone to Jack Whitehall [who hosted the Brit Awards between 2018 and 2021] because I think he was one of the greatest people that have done it in the years gone by. I thought his hosting duties were so good."

Lorraine airs weekdays on ITV and ITVX from 9am. The Brit Awards will be broadcast on the channel and streaming platform from 8.30pm on Saturday night.

Joel Leaver

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