BBC star Gabby Logan says 'it all came crashing down' as she opens up on family tragedy

TV presenter has opened up about the devastating impact her brother's death had on her during her teenage years.

The former athlete and presenter was 19-years-old when she lost her younger brother Daniel at the age of just 15.

Speaking on the ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast, she revealed how she had initially tried to outrun her grief, leading to a breakdown around the first anniversary of his death, as she faced university exams.

Now 52, shared that after suffering from sleeplessness and feeling unsteady, she sought medical advice, only to be prescribed sleeping pills-a remedy her father, ex-footballer Terry Yorath, strongly advised against due to his own struggles with them.

She recalled: "I was running around running from my grief, probably, and then by the end of my first year at , so just around the time of his first anniversary, I had some first year exams and it all kind of came crashing down.

"I'd stopped sleeping properly. I felt very wobbly, I just kind of lost my balance and I went to see a doctor and he gave me some and I thought 'That's not what I need'.

"Even I knew that's not the answer to what was going on, it was much deeper than that, it was the plaster and my dad had had a lot of problems with sleeping tablets. He said 'Don't take those, that's not a good route'."

Realising she needed professional help, Gabby took the meaningful step towards counselling, choosing a path that wouldn't add to her parents' burden as they too mourned their son.

Despite facing a massive personal loss, Gabby triumphantly built a career, first in athletics, and later as a renowned broadcaster. Recently, she has opened up about the mental weight of presenting some of the nation's most prominent programmes.

During an episode of her Mid Point Podcast with 's , she delved into the emotional impact that reporting on distressing news can have, and leaning on her husband Kenny Logan for support.

She recounted: "I remember the last time I filled in on 5 Live Breakfast, I remember coming away and feeling really sad, that day some terrible things had happened (on the news).

"I rang Kenny and said 'I don't know how people do this every day' because you do take on a lot in those three hours."

In response, Rick Edwards shed light on his own experience with breaking news, which not only shakes the world but deeply affects the journalists who cover it.

Reflecting on his time, he recalled: "When I first started (on Radio 5 Live) I don't think I realised that I was taking stuff on. But I did when Russia invaded Ukraine.

"After a few weeks of that, it was obviously horrendous and I just had a sort of moment where I was like I feel really sort of really, really down and I couldn't quite figure out why and then it just sort of clicked. Well, it's that, it's quite relentlessly bleak."

Gabby Logan is hosting coverage of the London Marathon today from 2pm on BBC Two.