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On May 31, Night Owl Cinematics (NOC) founders Ryan Tan and Sylvia Chan announced their divorce after a 10-year marriage in a 45-minute video.

Started in 2013, the duo's YouTube channel has earned itself more than 991,000 subscribers with its plethora of comedy and lifestyle content.

On the same day, both Tan and Chan wrote an Instagram post dedicated to each other as well.

In addition to his caption for Chan, Tan also posted a longer letter addressed to his friends, family, and fans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA2YscaH8Ta/

He revealed that he once attempted suicide while filming a travelogue in Osaka — an incident that he had "bottled up" for a long while.

A search on YouTube shows that NOC had published an Osaka travel guide back in August 2017.

Tan explained that his suicide attempt was due to the pressures of being a public figure, business partners and a "power couple" with Chan.

The pressure got so immense that it consumed his marriage, Tan said.

It became so much that his entirety became work and only work.

Even in his sleep, Tan would dream about work.

"I completely gave up on myself and started to loathe my existence, believing that my sole purpose was to just produce videos after videos. I no longer had the desire to travel, to buy anything, or to even look forward to anything."

Porky, the couple's pet Shih Tzu, became the only joy in his life.

In the years after the incident, things did not improve as NOC generated more and more content.

Now, the team releases videos almost daily, but for Tan, it still seems like it's not enough.

Insulted by viewers

Adding to the crushing pressure were the negative comments from viewers.

According to Tan, the team would receive insults for something as trivial as releasing a video five minutes late.

Other times, viewers would write mean things about them, or spread lies on forum pages.

Tan felt that they had become a "video factory" that suffered mental and emotional abuse on a daily basis.

This was compounded by viewers' expectations that they had to live a "completely good life", and everything soon became exhausting for Tan.

Even with all the "noise", however, Tan had to put on his game face to entertain the viewers.

"This is one of the reasons why I get so triggered by negative comments — if only you guys could see a fraction of the struggle we had to go through to provide entertainment to you."

Tan then implored everyone to be kind in their comments, as they never know whose death they may be unknowingly contributing to.

Finally, while he is deeply thankful for the success they found with NOC, Tan has come to realise that fame was not something he wanted, or was suited for.

He thanked everyone for reading his message and asked for space, respect and privacy for himself and Chan.

You can read his post in full here:

Helplines

SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1800-221-4444

Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019

Institute of Mental Health: 6389-2222 (24 hours)

Tinkle Friend: 1800-274-4788 (for primary school-aged children)

Care Corner Counselling Centre (Mandarin): 1800-353-5800

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Top image via Ryan Tan's Instagram