The Neighbourhood‘s Jordan Lozman has opened up about the shocking moments that triggered his PTSD, including a harrowing incident involving a 20-year-old soldier in Afghanistan.
Jordan speaks about his battle with PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) in tonight’s opening episode of The Neighbourhood, which is hosted by Graham Norton.
The oil rig worker is taking part in the ITV series alongside his wife Katie, his mum Christine and her husband Dave, who is Jordan’s step dad.
He also reveals how he later turned to stand up comedy after serving in the forces, using humour as a way to cope with the trauma he carried.
The Neighbourhood’s Jordan Lozman
Jordan lays bare his battle with PTSD during a visit to The Neighbourhood’s local cafe.
“I had quite a bit of a rough time when I left the military,” he tells fellow competitor Rosie, who is from the Scouse Haus.
“Events happened over in Afghan where people unfortunately didn’t come back. Years later, I got hit by PTSD.
“Although it had a detrimental effect on me afterwards, it also turned me from an 18 year old school boy into a 19 year old man very quickly.
“It makes you appreciate every single day more. I had to write a letter when I was 18 to say I might not come back. And then you see people complaining about the price of eggs.”
Jordan turned to comedy during his recovery. He now performs stand up gigs to raise money for men’s mental health charities.
In 2024, the former RAF serviceman spoke openly about his time in the forces and his mental health struggles on the People Like Us podcast.
Jordan described a particularly horrific memory from Afghan, and also revealed he later reached a point where he wanted to take his own life.
Thankfully, his wife Katie, who stars alongside him on The Neighbourhood, helped save him.
He explained how he served on the Medical Emergency Response Team, which was responsible for evacuating wounded servicemen and women in Chinook helicopters.
“We would land where someone had, say, lost their legs or lost their life and have to put them into the back of the helicopter and try a and keep them alive on the way back to Camp Bastion,” he recalled.
“As soon as we’d land, the Taliban would start shooting at us.
“We had 7 people on that helicopter at one point with legs missing and stomaches blown open, kids and everything. It was [bleeping] horrendous.”
Jordan’s ‘biggest regret’
Aged just 18, Jordan was faced with a moment that has stayed with him ever since.
“One of my biggest regrets is when we picked this lad,” Jordan said.
“He was only 20 and he had both his legs missing. He reached out and held my hand and looked at me and I started crying.
“My job was just to hold the blood to feed into him and I started crying, looking at him and knowing he was going to die.
“As I started crying, he started crying. And that’s something I can never forgive myself for.
“I felt like I should have been stronger. That poor lad was there with no legs and I couldn’t hold myself together.
“I started crying while looking at him and he must have thought, ‘Well, I’m [bleep-ed] here’. That’s one thing that bothers me. After that, I switched off and didn’t show any emotion.”
Jordan left the RAF after four years. He believes his decision to close himself off emotionally had a lasting impact on his mental health, which eventually led to his PTSD.
Jordan credits Katie with helping him get through it all.
“I wouldn’t be here without her,” he admitted. “She kept me going through all the [bleep], like when the PTSD started and I didn’t trust her.
“Katie took me to hospital when I got put in there when I was trying to kill myself.
“She took me to all my sessions, took knives off me when I tried to harm myself. She was everything.”
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