Roman Kemp 'singled out' by Justin Bieber as he details awkward meeting

Daily Mirror

24-05-2025

Roman Kemp said Justin Bieber once asked his opinion during a private listening session for his album Changes, but wasn't too impressed by the radio host's feedback
Roman Kemp said he was once "singled out" by Justin Bieber during an awkward meeting with the Canadian singer.
The radio host, 32, revealed details of the encounter which happened during private listening session for Justin's 2020 album, Changes. Roman said Justin invited him on stage to give feedback on the album in front of music industry executives - but their exchange quickly took an awkward turn.
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Roman said on the latest episode of his BBC Sounds podcast You About?, co-hosted with singer Tom Grennan: "He singled me out. He said I've got to come up on stage. He plays these tunes to all these label execs, looks at me and goes, 'What do you think of that one?'"
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Sharing his opinion, Roman said: "It's alright." But Justin didn't seem too impressed, according to the former Capital Breakfast host, as the singer replied: "Roman said it's alright? Alright?"
He said he then felt the need to share more details and told Justin: "Well, yeah. It's not your best, not your worst." He added: "My words were, 'It's decent' - but I don't think he appreciated it." Roman still follows Justin on Instagram, but the singer doesn't follow him back.
Back in 2021, Roman said he would often go out to party with Justin when they were younger - but admitted he is now a changed man. Chatting to The Sun, Roman revealed Justin invited him along to dinner before a party around the time he released his Purpose album.
"Without a doubt, he was the wildest. He's grown into a very different young man now. He's a lot more serious and focused," Roman told the publication. "But around his Purpose album (in 2015) when he was in London, I have never seen anything like that in my life - and I thought I'd seen a lot. It went on for three weeks, every single night."
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Roman added that the partying "just kept going" and he reflected on the attention he received while in the presence of Justin. "I think I was 24, he'd just turned 21 and I remember standing on a sofa in a nightclub looking up and every girl in that room was trying to get my eye to say, 'You can come on to this table.' It's different world."
He added: "We'd go for dinner, then leaving he didn't call for the bill. He was like, 'Oh, they sort it.' It's unbelievable, on a different level." Earlier this year, Roman opened up about feeling the "pressure" of a family trait, admitting there are times he feels like he doesn't "care".
In a March recent instalment of their podcast, FFS! My dad Is Martin Kemp, Roman confessed to being "stressed" this week and often wanting to "turn everything off". This led him to question his dad, Martin, about the idea of retiring, only to learn that Martin couldn't imagine stopping.
The conversation took a turn when Roman pinpointed the source of the pressure: "You." To which a surprised Martin responded, "From me? Why me? You've got a great work ethic. Is work ethic...is that another way of saying you work your b***s off?". Roman clarified his view on what constitutes a good work ethic: "Good work ethic isn't you working your b******s off. It's about a balance between work and life split whilst maintaining drive."
He then delved into his personal struggle: "Can you maintain drive and ambition alongside being true to yourself and understanding who you are? I struggle with that massively because I just...honestly, I just run myself into a moment where I'm like, 'I don't care anymore. I don't care. Like, sack it all off'."