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A BBC presenter has disclosed he found himself trapped in £20,000 debt, as he spoke candidly about the "vicious cycle" he endured.

Kevin Duala appeared on BBC Morning Live on Tuesday, April 21, where he offered advice for viewers experiencing the same distressing situation following his own battles.

The TV and radio presenter, who has hosted programmes including Health: Truth or Scare, A Matter of Life and Debt, and numerous segments for The One Show, confessed he felt "ashamed" and "embarrassed" but encouraged others to be open about their debt to prevent going through what he experienced and challenge the stigma surrounding financial difficulties.

Kevin disclosed he had accumulated debt of up to £20,000, as he spoke to Morning Live presenters Helen Skelton and Rav Wilding.

He began: "I'd like to take you back 25 years when my journey into debt first started. I was self employed, 15% of the UK population now are self employed, so it's going to affect a lot of people," reports the Mirror.

He continued: "It was my first job, I was new to the game, I'd started in our industry that we're in now, and once I first got that pay cheque, I just thought, 'Right, that money's mine'. I wasn't educated enough to find out what I needed to do, however, I did source that information out, and I did make my pot, I put my tax in one pot, my mortgage, my house bills, and then I had my cash flow here, thinking that this was the way it would be now, that I'd carry on working and I would float about and enjoy life.

"But that wasn't the case. Work wasn't forthcoming straight away, but obviously, my mortgage needed to be paid."

Kevin went on to explain that he needed a loan to top up his tax pot, saying: "Little bits of work were coming in but not enough to balance the books."

He added: "When it started to get really serious was when I then had to pay the loan back but I didn't have enough money in my cash flow to do that."

Kevin maxed out on his overdrafts, and revealed he found himself in a "horrible vicious circle, robbing Peter to pay Paul".

Initially, he attempted to turn a blind eye to his difficulties, admitting he "buried my head in the sand," yet his troubles refused to disappear.

Kevin went on to describe feeling "lonely, isolated," and unwilling to confide in anybody. "It was embarrassing, I felt ashamed. I was a grown man, I had a family, we were bringing our kids up, I had bills to pay, the pressure started to mount.

"It's horrible when you go through that situation because you can't tell anyone, or don't want to tell anyone. You feel embarrassed, and that's the thing you should do, you should open up and tell, but for some reason, I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"The pressure mounted, it affected my mental health, it affected me personally, my appearance. I didn't want to go out, I felt embarrassed. The industry we're in, our job is to go out and pretend everything is ok, I just couldn't do that.

"I remember going for an audition and just thought to myself, 'If I get this job, I'll be able to balance all the books, I'll be back in the game, no one needs to know, I can hide it all'. I went for the job, didn't get it, came back and I was just lost, I just thought, 'What am I going to do?' Honestly, I was in a dark place."

Kevin described his "turning point" as the moment he attempted to withdraw cash from a cashpoint, only for the machine to swallow his card. "That's when I knew then, I had no money, I had no access to money, so I went home and I just thought, 'What am I going to do?'"

He continued: "I remember going into the bedroom, lying on the bed and just felt physically sick. I started crying, not out of pity but out of annoyance that I'd got myself in that situation.

"I couldn't wait for the morning to arrive, I got up and phoned CBA and they put me in touch with a debt charity and my life changed from then, they were absolutely brilliant."

Kevin implored others facing similar struggles to seek assistance, adding: "I finally got there and that took me six years."

When presenter Helen enquired about the extent of his debt, the radio personality revealed: "Up to £20,000 I was in debt."

"I urge anyone, if they are struggling with debt, to take that first step," he added.

Morning Live airs weekdays from 9.30am on BBC One and iPlayer.