Prince William and England manager Gareth Southgate have joined a host of footballing legends for a frank discussion about mental health.
The pair met with Peter Crouch, Thierry Henry, Danny Rose and Jermaine Jenas for an honest chat in a locker room to dispel the taboo about speaking on men’s mental health. The group were also joined by four football fans, Tom, Steve, Paul and Mark.
Southgate said men “must try and help each other” in talking about mental health issues, in a conversation that was filmed earlier this month for a BBC documentary.
The discussion was filmed at the grounds of Cambridge United Football Club, which is pioneering what it means to be a mentally healthy football club.
In the documentary, the football fans head to the ground thinking they have been invited to speak about their own struggles with mental health - unaware that they are about to come face-to-face with some of their footballing heroes.
William said: "Men are the hardest-to-reach audience on the subject of mental health.
"Suicide is the biggest killer of young men under the age of 45, and that's an appalling statistic.
"There needs to be a turning point where we can pass the message on to men everywhere that it's OK to talk about mental health. We have to normalise the whole conversation."
Southgate added: "We've got to try to help and support each other. Football generally has had a culture of maybe not opening up about anything in your life, without being seen as being weak for doing that.
"I think it's key that that isn't a weakness, it's actually a strength that you're confident enough to talk about those things openly."
Jenas said: "My biggest hope for this is that a conversation will be had. The rate of male suicide has gone through the roof, so it's great that we're having this chat."
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In a short clip posted by the BBC on Twitter, Southgate is seen referring to a "sense of hopelessness" and Henry says: "It's almost forbidden to cry."
William says: "We've got to relax a little bit and be able to talk about our emotions because we're not robots."
He then points at Crouch, and in a reference to the footballer's robotic celebration dance, jokes: "He does a great robot impression."
A Royal Team Talk: Tackling Mental Health, presented by Dan Walker, will air on Sunday May 19 at 10.30pm on BBC One.
Additional reporting by Press Association
