Marshall ‘Up Late’ and saved from depression

Headline maker and diplomat turned talk show host Sehon Marshall says that his new online late-night programme brought him back from the brink of depression, caused in the wake of controversy.

Last November, newspapers in New York, St Vincent and the Grenadines and around the region carried the story that, Marshall, at the time counsellor at the Permanent Mission of St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) to the United Nations (UN), had been reported to the police for domestic abuse.

It was alleged that he hit his wife, Xandra Marshall, in the face, but Marshall was not arrested by the police because of his diplomatic immunity.

After consultations with Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, the counsellor was ordered to return to SVG, soon after which he handed in his resignation.

He spoke with SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday about the time immediately following his return, “I came back home with a cloud of controversy,” he stated.

“I wasn’t sure how I was going to do anything. It’s just that I knew I was coming back. I had to meet with Foreign Affairs. We met. I submitted my resignation, and I remember…funny enough…I remember the Minister of Foreign Affairs asking me, “What are you going to do now?” I thought ‘I don’t know’ you know,” he described.

“In spite of the fact that I think I am imminently qualified, jobs were just not coming even though I applied for a number of them,” he disclosed.

“I knew it would be a challenge because I was always cognisant of all the ramifications of the allegations, so I knew it would be a challenge. How much of a challenge…I wasn’t expecting,” the former diplomat stated, saying that he had applied regionally and internationally as well.

He revealed that he has a Masters in International Relations and an LLM in climate change law and policy.

“When I came back, I saw positions in the area of renewable energy, climate change and so on, so I applied for two or three positions, never heard back from them… it was a matter of not getting a response,” he admitted.

A previous radio host, Marshall realized he had to try a different route, and “When I came back, I did a few interviews on radio, and I got the sense that there was still an appetite for Sehon Marshall in the media, despite everything.”

Therefore, streaming live through Facebook for the first time on May 10 after six weeks of preparation “Up late with Sehon Marshall” was launched. The unscripted show, as Marshall describes, provides ‘infotainment’ and is filmed in front of a live audience at the Russell’s Cinema from 9 to 10 on a Thursday night.

“The idea – it’s late night, it’s nine to ten, people have had long days…You’ve come home, you’ve done your chores, you’re tired, you’re going to bed, you wanna relax. So I offer something that’s relaxing,” he explained.

Now, Marshall says that the show means everything to him, “One has to go through what I went through to understand what the show means. Flat-out put, after everything, I was jobless. It affected my career trajectory, my family was affected, I didn’t have my children with me. It was as if everything just came crashing down, and so there was a significant period of depression…I was routeless.”
“I didn’t know what to do, where to go, and then when the idea of the show came, I actually started working on it, I felt purpose again,” he continued.

However, when asked whether he prefers his current job to his previous one, Marshall admitted, “What I did previously gave me extreme satisfaction because I was representing St Vincent and the Grenadines, and to represent a country on the international stage is an honour, it’s a privilege unlike any other.”

He did say that, “Now I have the personal satisfaction of doing something I love, and this is something that I’m developing, and the team and I, we’re growing it and so forth.”

After weighing the two, he ended, “I think you’re representing your country you know, internationally is just an honour that many things can’t compare to, so I would say you know, the previous job, primarily because of the honour and the privilege that goes with it.”

The talk-show host said that his family has supported him, that his mother and sister came to the first show and “I have relatives overseas, they don’t miss it at all.”

The public has also supported the show, he stated, “What happened leading up to the show, and maybe after the first show was that people attacked the personality, based on the allegations, but the show itself has not attracted a single negative.”

Marshall has great hopes for ‘Up Late with Sehon Marshall’ to become a regional show and that “It should be you call your girlfriend or somebody you want to hang out with and you go “What are you doing tonight? Let’s go ‘Up Late’ and that’s where you take him or her.”

(Those who are interested in finding out more about ‘Up Late with Sehon Marshall’ can do so via: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uplatewsm; or Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq2eHpB4krqbJ7yIy3E1yPA and website: www.uplatewsm.com )