This Morning's Rylan Clark's skull fractured in homophobic attack as he cared for mum Linda

ok.co.uk:

Rylan Clark has opened up about his past experiences with homophobic bullies, sharing details of an horrific attack. In his new TV show Rylan: Homophobia, Football and Me, BBC Radio 2 DJ and This Morning presenter Rylan explores the treatment of gay people in football, including the tragic story of Justin Fashanu, the UK's first openly gay footballer who sadly took his own life at 37.

The show also features Rio Ferdinand, the West Ham and Manchester United legend, who discusses his use of homophobic language.

The programme delves into Rylan's childhood, where he was bullied for his ginger hair, weight, and sexuality. One particularly nasty incident resulted in a hospital visit after a bully attacked him. "I was the fat, ginger kid at school.The first three years of school was hard and then I was like, 'I'm gay now, get over it.' It was taunting and very difficult," the 35 year old previously shared. "When I lived in London there was this playground that I used to go to after school and I got pulled off a rope swing and some boy kicked me in the head and fractured my skull.

I was probably about 13 or 14. I was in hospital, it was a horrible time," Rylan recalled. Rylan, who was caring for his single mum Linda as she battled severe Crohn's disease at home while he was dealing with bullies at school, had a moment of realisation. "I just got to a point where I thought 'f***k off', if anyone said anything to me I'd give it to them straight back," he shared with The Sun.