Tom Parker' s wife Kelsey has detailed how she told their young children about their dad's tragic death.
The Wanted singer was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in October 2020, and had been open and honest about his terminal cancer in interviews and on social media.
He even fulfilled one last wish to perform with his bandmates on tour earlier this year, but his condition deteriorated, and on 30 March, Tom sadly passed away at the age of 33.
Kelsey spoke about how she has remained strong for their kids Aurelia, two, and 19-month-old Bodhi, telling viewers she gets her strength "from within."
She bravely shared how she told the kids about Tom’s death, and said their youngest, Bodhi, has “no clue”.
“I've been really honest, I've taken advice, Bodhi is only 19 months old and he has no clue,” she explained.
“With Aurelia, it was really difficult and she was really confused,” Kelsey added, revealing that their daughter was puzzled when her dad went into a hospice.
“I did say to her he wouldn’t be coming home from the hospice and on the Wednesday when he did die, I was leaving to go to the hospice and I just said to her, ‘I’ve got to go to make sure the angels take daddy’,” she said of their heartbreaking conversation.
She told Aurelia “the angels are coming to collect him”, and was left devastated when she had to break the news the following day that Tom had passed away.
“This is the advice I got - to be honest. I said, ‘Dad’s dead and he’s not coming back.’ So she’s still trying to digest that,” Kelsey said.
She told viewers Aurelia asks each day if “daddy is at an appointment”, and has asked Kelsey’s mum: “So is daddy really not coming back?”
She said her daughter was “very worried” when she left the house to appear on the ITV daytime show.
“So today I've said 'I'm going on TV today and we are going to talk about daddy, because everyone needs to remember daddy,’” Kelsey said.
