22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Edinburgh Live
Martin Kemp says simple two-minute trick every night gets him to sleep
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The key to keeping your mind and body sharp is getting the right amount of sleep. According to the NHS, the typical adult requires seven to nine hours of sleep every night. However, some individuals may discover they need even more slumber.
Nevertheless, numerous people have difficulty falling asleep, which can subsequently affect their social lives and personal relationships over the long term. One such person, ex-Spandau Ballet bass player Martin Kemp, has shared his unique technique for nodding off: he recites a monologue.
The musician, famous for hits such as Gold and True, divulged this sleep-aid strategy on his podcast, FFS! My Dad is Martin Kemp, following his son Roman's revelation that he was "too stressed" to sleep.
Martin said: "What you need to do Ro, is learn something like a poem or a monologue. This is what I do, every single night when I go to bed, I will get in my bed and close my eyes and say this monologue I had on stage when I was acting.
"It was from a play I did called Million Dollar Quartet, about Elvis, and there's a monologue I have which is two minutes long on stage, and I will say that every night."
When Roman humorously commented that the play "must have been a boring play", Martin joined in with the jest, saying "it was" and implied that it put the audience to sleep, before clarifying: "The play was really good, it was a musical all about Elvis, it was good."
The Million Dollar Quartet is a captivating tale of an impromptu jam session that brought together music legends Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash at the Sun Records Studios in Memphis back in 1956. This seemingly chance encounter led to the recording of a series of unforgettable songs.
(Image: Dave Benett/WireImage via Getty Images)
NHS advice on sleep
According to the NHS, sleep problems are quite common and can be triggered by changes in our work or personal life. While the occasional sleepless night is "nothing to worry about", it becomes a concern if it persists, reports Surrey Live.
The health service warned: "Longer stretches of bad sleep can do the opposite and have a negative impact on our physical and mental health or wellbeing. Not getting enough sleep is sometimes described as being sleep deprived, or called 'sleep deprivation', 'sleeplessness' or 'sleep inefficiency'."
To improve your sleep, the NHS suggests six strategies:
