Rylan Clark-Neal reveals why he had to pull out of Eurovision at the last minute

The TV presenter and former X Factor star was enlisted as Scott Mills’ co-commentator for the 2018 Eurovision semi-finals in Lisbon but had to withdraw at the last minute tweeting that due to "unforeseen circumstances" he had to return to the UK:

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Now, in an interview with The Sun, Rylan has revealed he had to head home because his husband Dan Neal fell ill.

"It got to the Friday, the day before the final. I'm not going to lie, I was so excited to be there," he said. "I've always been a fan and so to be asked to do it in the first place was a big tick off my list.

"But when I found out Dan was ill I didn't say anything to anyone. I just went on my phone, booked my flight and then explained, 'I'm really sorry, but I've got to go home.'

"Everyone got it because I wasn't going to do that lightly," he continued. "I went back to sort everything that needed to be sorted out."

Although he didn't want to expand as to what the problem was, he reassured fans that Dan was now "fine".

Graham Norton returned to host the BBC’s coverage of the final while Mel Giedroyc – who fronted You Decide – was enlisted to deliver the UK’s votes to Europe’s viewers.

Eurovision will return in 2019