Professor Green smiling on This Morning
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Professor Green explores father’s suicide in BBC Three documentary Suicide and Me

The rapper talks about his father's suicide in tonight's documentary

Famous rapper Professor Green‘s documentary Suicide and Me airs on BBC Three tonight.

The documentary follows the rapper as he takes an emotional journey to try to uncover the truth about his father’s suicide.

So who is Professor Green?

Here’s everything we know.

Professor Green smiling on This Morning
Professor Green worked with Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge for a mental health campaign (Credit: ITV)

Who is Suicide and Me star Professor Green?

Professor Green is a British rapper and songwriter.

The star has made many famous songs including Read All About It and Got It All.

Professor Green also writes regularly for the men’s lifestyle website The Book of Man and was part of the Heads Together campaign lead by Prince Harry and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

He is also a mental health activist and visits schools to talk about mental wellbeing.

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Speaking with The Sun, he revealed that he believes educating children about mental health will arm them with the tools to overcome problems later in life.

The rapper said: “I’ve been to several schools and to hear them use the term ‘mental health’ is incredible.

“It takes everyone just to be more open an a bit more honest. The most important thing is we raise awareness because after awareness becomes understanding and hopefully after understanding comes a solution.

“We’ve got to arm kids with the tools to be strong later.”

What is Suicide and Me about?

Professor Green’s BBC3 documentary Suicide and Me follows the rapper as he takes a personal journey to uncover the truth of his father’s suicide.

He also explores why suicide is the biggest killer of men in under 45 in the UK.

It’s violent, irrespective of the method, so it’s hard to talk about and it’s scary.

Talking about his documentary, Green told the Guardian: “At the end of the day suicide is a violent end. It’s the taking of a life.

“It’s violent, irrespective of the method, so it’s hard to talk about and it’s scary.

“Shying away from it is not going to do any good, though.”

What is Professor Green worth?

According to The Money Equation, Professor Green is worth between £3-4 million.

Where is Professor Green from?

Rapper Professor Green, real name Stephen Manderson, is from London Borough of Hackney.

In a campaign for British Gas, he opened up about what it was like living with his grandmother as a youngster.

Speaking to the Hackney Gazette, he said: “Reading the script was an emotional experience. As many people know, my parents weren’t around growing up and my grandmother raised me on an estate in Hackney.

“Money was tight, and there was always stress about paying our energy bill. Advice and services, like those provided by British Gas Energy Trust, just weren’t available to us and those around me.

“I urge families and individuals suffering in silence to reach out to British Gas Energy Trust to get the help they so desperately need.”

Professor Green on Freeze the Fear

Professor Green was among the celebrities who overcame their fears and tackled the ice cold water in the BBC One show Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof.

On the show Professor Green’s co-star Chelcee Grimes asked him about his famous song Read All About It.

He explained that the song was inspired by the tragedy of his father’s death.

He said: “That song, it wasn’t meant to be a hit. It was about my dad who took his own life.

The rapper adds: “That song opened me up to thing I didn’t know I was going to walk into because I didn’t know it was going to be a hit.”

Professor Green smiling on Loose Women
Professor Green’s father died when he was 25 (Credit: ITV)

What happened to his dad?

In his documentary, Suicide and, Professor Green opens up about his father’s death.

The rapper’s father sadly took his own life in 2008 when Green was 25.

He explained that he discovered that his father had gone through a “perfect storm” of problems leading up to his death.

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The rapper said: “He went through an awful lot that contributed to his death.

“He was obviously internalising his problems. He didn’t feel he had people around him that he could share how he truly felt with or, if he did, they didn’t help him.”

What has Professor Green said about his father’s death?

Since his father’s death, the rapper has been very open about he felt and how he dealt with his grief.

He told the Mirror: “When my dad took his life, I took this journey to try and understand why he had done it. I quickly came to the conclusion that I didn’t understand it. This is because the only way I could truly understand it was by being in the same situation he was in when he did it.

“He was a very passive human. So for him to take his life as violently as he did was seemingly out of character. So I kind of realised that I’m okay with not understanding that entirely.

“Perhaps the difference between someone who does and does not take their own life is their ability to tolerate how they feel at any given time. I feel I most certainly can and therefore will never take the steps that my father did.”

Parenting ‘challenges’

Green also recently admitted that his father’s suicide “threw up some challenges” for him following the birth of his son Silmane.

The rapper told GB News: “It definitely threw up challenges for me, I’ll be honest about that. Something that I thought I completely processed and dealt with was brought back up to the surface and challenged me again.

“It’s not been without it’s challenges… I’m just aware of how much of a sponge he [Silmane] is and in my childhood there was a lot of trauma. That’s something that I’ve had to overcome and deal with and I don’t want to pass on to Slimane.

“It is difficult because you don’t want to be so aware that it becomes your prime focus because then it becomes too present. It’s a pretty fine line and it’s a hard balance but with the support that I have from his mum, I’m pretty alright.”

Professor Green frowning on Good Morning Britain
Professor Green’s first wife was former Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh (Credit: ITV)

Who is Professor Green married to?

Before Professor Green got engaged to his fiancé Karima McAdams, the rapper was married to former Made in Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh.

The pair were married for two years until they decided to split in 2016.

In a joint statement they explained: “It is with sadness and regret that we confirm our separation. It is a mutual decision.

“We still care deeply about each other and would like it to be known it is on amicable terms. We wish each other well.”

However, he has since admitted to feeling “like a novelty” during their marriage.

Professor Green added that he felt he didn’t have much in common with Millie’s friends, and often thought he was more like the older generations.

“I had nothing in common with anyone apart from the old eccentrics,” the star said. “And parents who’d actually worked for their lot.”

Now, the rapper is engaged to the face of Laura Croft in the Tomb Raider video game Karima McAdams.

In a sweet Instagram post he wrote: “You call me easy love, I call you my gorgeous thing. Loving me isn’t always easy, but you are always gorgeous.”

The pair also welcomed their son, Silmane Ray Manderson, into the world last year.

Suicide and Me with Professor Green is on BBC Three tonight (May 9) at 9pm. You can watch it now on iPlayer.

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Aaliyah Ashfield
Digital Marketing Apprentice