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Football favourite Chris Kamara has told how his close friendship with TV's Ben Shephard has helped him open up about his devastating speech disorder.
The former footballer turned pundit and presenter, known affectionately as Kammy, has been battling with apraxia of speech, a rare neurological condition which causes him to slur his words.
It's already forced him to give up his job on Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday where his madcap match reports had become legendary and it has also affected his mental health and self-confidence.
Chris Kamara first opened up about battling with apraxia of speech on Good Morning Britain
Kamara has shared how his close friendship with TV's Ben Shephard has helped him open up about his condition
As Kamara, 64, struggled to come to terms with his life-changing diagnosis and tried to hide it from worried fans and colleagues, it was best friend Shephard, 47, who persuaded him to go public with it, first with a live interview on Good Morning Britain in March this year and now with a documentary which is due to air on ITV1 next week.
Speaking exclusively to Sportsmail, Kamara says he didn't know it at the time, but that appearance on GMB proved to be the 'first step' in his recovery and the relief he felt in everyone finally knowing the truth was immense.
'I'm so glad Ben talked to me about doing GMB because in many ways, I'd say I'm 70% better since that day. Acceptance was the hardest thing but now I've got this clear determination to help other people with speech conditions.'
The bromance began in 2010 when Kamara and Shephard teamed up to front Goals on Sunday on Sky Sports and instantly hit it off. Since then they have co-presented five series of ITV1's Ninja Warrior UK and they also host Kamara and Shephard's Proper Football Podcast on BBC Sounds.
Shephard knew that Kamara had been diagnosed with an underactive thyroid and then apraxia, which means a defect in the brain's pathways make it difficult to form words, and had watched him desperately try to keep it under wraps.
But TV viewers had noticed the change in Kamara's speech and speculation became rife on social media about him being drunk or in the early stages of dementia and Shephard found himself being quizzed by mutual friends about what was happening.
Shephard said: 'I had friends and colleagues message me because there was clearly something going on and they were worried about him. The stuff on social media, I don't think was coming from a bad place – there was genuine concern. But my priority was always about protecting Kammy, keeping an eye on him and making sure he was OK.
'He's known as a firebrand, a bundle of energy, joy and spontaneity and then suddenly finding that when you want to say something, the words just don't come is a very terrifying
