Engagements / Men’s mental health
The Longest Conversation
An ANDYSMANCLUB live event in support of #ItsOkayToTalk
Mental health in sports and entertainment
Kofi Josephs joined presenter Emma Jones as the key fireside guest for a conversation about public pressure, high-profile careers and managing mental wellbeing.
- Event
- The Longest Conversation
- Setting
- Paternoster Square, Central London
- Format
- Hosted fireside conversation
- Date
- 27 August 2025
The event
Twelve hours of open conversation
ANDYSMANCLUB hosted The Longest Conversation as a 12-hour live-streamed event at Paternoster Square in Central London.
The programme brought together celebrities, experts, influencers and members of the public through interviews, talks, performances, live podcasts and lighter moments—all intended to keep meaningful conversations about men’s mental health moving.
According to the event brief, the 12-hour format represented the average of 12 men who take their lives each day in the UK. The wider message was direct: #ItsOkayToTalk.
Kofi’s participation
The key fireside guest
Kofi was the key fireside guest for the Mental Health in Sports and Entertainment section, hosted by presenter Emma Jones.
The conversation explored how athletes and entertainers are changing the way mental health is discussed, while recognising the pressures of public life and the challenge of managing mental wellbeing in high-profile careers.
Kofi contributed from his own experience of elite sport, public expectation and mental health advocacy. His role was as the featured guest in this fireside discussion; ANDYSMANCLUB organised and hosted the wider event.
Inside the conversation
Beyond the public profile
The fireside discussion placed the person behind a public-facing career at the centre of the mental-health conversation.
- 01
Changing the conversation
How athletes and entertainers can use their visibility to speak more openly about mental health.
- 02
Public pressure
The expectations, scrutiny and demands that can sit alongside a high-profile career.
- 03
The person behind the performance
Why achievement and public success do not remove the need to acknowledge mental wellbeing.
- 04
Managing wellbeing
An honest conversation about protecting mental wellbeing while working in public-facing environments.
The wider message
Visibility can help make honest conversation possible.
Sport and entertainment can project strength, confidence and success. Those images do not show every pressure a person may be carrying.
When people in visible careers speak honestly about mental wellbeing, they can help challenge the idea that vulnerability and achievement cannot coexist.
The purpose of this fireside conversation was not to present one answer. It was to make room for a more open discussion about pressure, identity and support.
Why Not I
Lived experience, shared with purpose
This engagement reflects the role lived experience can play in public conversations about mental health.
For Why Not I, sharing a personal story is not about presenting a finished or universal answer. It is about creating a point of connection from which people can reflect on their own wellbeing, aspirations and next steps.
Discover the Why Not I approachContinue exploring
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