You're listening to Unfiltered with James week features Simon Thomas the former Blue Peter presenter and Sky Sports anchor who latterly has come to, well, a prominence he would rather not have achieved by Dint of speaking so frankly and so honestly

about the loss of his wife Jemma just over six months ago and his struggles with both depression

and anxiety and of course with the reality of raising a little boy alone.

Well you're here for Miriad reasons Simon, Blue Peter presenter, Skype, Sports presenter,

and latterly, something of a pioneer in what I would describe as emotional literacy,

although it's a particular tragedy that has brought you into that position.

We'll work our way towards that and start at the very beginning, which was in Norfolk.

Oh, we're going back, we're going back, oh well, think We're going right back. Oh, well, think of how many glorious sporting journalism careers began in the...

I know.

The house of Norwich.

Your dad was a vicar.

So presumably, religion was quite big in your life from quite an early age.

Yeah, face it really was but I've reflected on it numerous times across the years.

It was never ever forced on me. I never felt I had...

Unavoidable though. Yeah but I never felt that dad was saying you know you've got to believe this or anything

like that what I did know is that going to church as I got older for him to have his family

there meant something so actually if I didn't go it was kind of not makes life difficult for the old man but

you're a one out of the yeah it says of family pride and that it was something that was there and

as you got older you then develop the skills to sort of question it and work it through for

yourself but it's always there it's part of family life

it did not... Who else was in the family?

So my sister Becky was a year younger than me and then Hannah came six years after I was born and we were sort of Norfolk till we were tears I

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