'You should be able to be sensitive'

Professor Green talks feelings, fatherhood and the importance of a good night's sleep

- SHELLEY SPADONI

Hackney-born rapper Professor Green, real name Stephen Manderson, has been around the block, and then some. The 40-year-old, who shares a three-year-old son, Slimane, with actress Karima McAdams, has spoken openly about his fractured childhood, which saw his mother walk out on him at a young age and his father take his own life, leaving young Stephen to be brought up by his nan on a North London council estate.

Feelings of abandonment provoked a deep anxiety that he has struggled with ever since, but which has also driven him to speak out about mental health and create something positive from those dark places.

Here, the singer, who was previously married to Made In Chelsea star Millie Mackintosh, speaks to us about his strong nan, making new music and a sleep project that will hopefully bring him some peaceful nights...

Hello, Stephen! How are you?

Good, but a bit stiff – I was on a horse yesterday. Welcome to the wonderful world of mid-life. I hadn’t been on one since I was on holiday in Jamaica. I got bitten by a police horse in primary school, too. But they say, “Get back on the horse” – so I did. And I enjoyed it. The rhythmic sound and pace of the hooves is really calming. I’ll definitely do it again.

And how’s life with your little boy, Slimane?

Great. He’s always running round the house shouting, “I do NOT want to wear these pants!” Fatherhood’s magic – you see things in a more childlike way. I’d never stopped to examine a leaf for half an hour since I was a kid! I try to give Slim a life different to the one I had – to understand what he’s feeling.

How do you want to do things differently?