One of the country's most prominent business women says there's still a stigma surrounding suicide.

Sallyanne Clarke has made the shortlist for the Image Business Woman of the Year award.

Her teenage son Andrew took his own life last Christmas at the family home she shares with her husband, celebrity chef Derry Clarke.

Sallyanne now works with the charity TeenLine and says four out of five calls come from girls - but boys are more likely to text when they need help.

She says she initially stayed silent about her son's death.

"We didn't talk to anybody, we didn't tell anybody anything," she told Colette Fitzpatrick on this morning's show. "Yes obviously our hope was that he would get up, walk away, and that we would never have to discuss it.

"There is a stigma with suicide, there still is. I think there always will be that. Some people will be very sympathetic, other people don't know how to deal with it. It's a difficult one," she added.

Speaking about how her family have been dealing with Andrew's death, she said "every day is a different day. People ask 'how are you?', and I say we're all on the same book, but we're all on different pages... We all deal with it in our own way".

The comments came during a wide-ranging interview with Colette, during which Sallyanne also discussed her business - the restaurant l'Ecrivain she co-owns with her husband.

"We wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy it," she explained. "As you know success is a double-edged sword... It's more of a vocation than anything because of the hours you do, and what you do. As I say - lunchtime's a matinee, dinner is a theatre performance".

You can listen back to the full interview via the podcast below: