Made In Chelsea star Miles Nazaire joined his co-stars for a charity bike ride this week, working up a sweat to raise money for two worthy causes.
Ahead of the bike ride, he chatted with Daily Star Online about his own struggles with mental health and the journey that inspired him to raise thousands for the charity Mind.
Joined by personal trainer David Templer and MIC’s Harvey Armstrong and Tristan Phipps, Miles, 24, decided to take part in the charity ride for NHS Charities Together and Mind during the lockdown.
Miles and Tristan, who have been at the heart of Made In Chelsea for the past few years, bonded over their shared battles with mental health when they first became friends.
Inspired by their own struggles, the foursome decided to take part in the charity ride to raise funds to help those who need it most.
Miles Nazaire has opened up about experiencing struggles with his mental health in his youth (Image: Miles Nazaire)
Over just 24 hours, the team cycled the length of the UK on fixed bikes, aiming to raise £24,000 between them for the essential causes.
French-British star Miles said: “Myself and Tristan, we’ve always had our chats about mental health. We’ve both gone through our mental health issues individually and that’s kind of how our friendship bonded. We’ve talked about our struggles in the past.
“The other two boys as well, they’ve talked about their individual mental health struggles as well.
“We thought, during this pandemic, not only is it tough for everyone but if you’re alone in your flat and you’re finding it really tough we wanted to also donate to a mental health charity.
Miles has taken part in a charity bike ride with his co-stars to raise funds for UK charities (Image: Miles Nazaire)
“Mind is an amazing charity to work with.”
Aware that young males are often the worst affected by mental health struggles, the Made In Chelsea lads are determined to change the conversation.
Miles said: “It’s so important. It’s a big thing for us, it’s definitely a big thing for men all around the world. A lot of people find it very hard to talk about their emotions.
The Made In Chelsea star admitted young men can struggle to talk about their emotions (Image: Miles Nazaire)
“Especially as young males, there’s this whole struggle of how you’re supposed to conduct yourself. All four of us have combined together and been able to have those heart to heart chats when something is wrong.
“If something is wrong we’ve been there for each other and we’ve been able to open up.
“It’s something we’ve always discussed on our social media. We want to say ‘it’s okay not to be okay, but don’t hide away and keep it to yourself. Open up and talk about it.’
“We’re moving so quickly, we’re not in the old times any more. No ones judging you any more, we’re here to help.”
An advocate for positive mental health, Miles has long been determined to use his social media presence for the greater good.
He said: “When you have a social media platform, you have an amount of followers who love what you do.
Miles is hopeful reality show producers will lead the conversation in mental health (Image: Miles Nazaire)
“Something that I was really adamant to do when I first got into this industry was to talk about mental health, because I’ve had my struggles when I was younger.”
Occasionally, he finds fans will reach out and thank him for speaking candidly about his own challenges when it comes to mental health.
He said: “Every time I speak about it I get an amazing response. People will DM me and say ‘thank you so much for talking about it, it means so much to me, it feels like I’m not alone’.”
Miles, who joined the cast of Made In Chelsea in 2018, confessed that the hit E4 reality TV series is starting to give mental health struggles the platform they deserve on the show.
He said: “I think it’s great the fact that we are talking about these problems. Reality TV is a space where you can hide away and watch your favourite shows.
“The reason people watch these reality shows is because they love the people on it, if we can talk about our experiences and the audience can relate to what we go through, it’s amazing.
“I’m hoping, as the years go on, reality TV will start doing a lot more in terms of these issues.”
Miles, Harvey, Tristan and David will be cycling the length of the UK in 24 hours on fixed bikes. To donate visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/nem8t-24-hours.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
