The Voice: Anne-Marie admits she's 'worried' for Tom Jones
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The Sex Bomb star was married to Melinda Rose Trenchard, known as Lady Linda, for nearly 60 years before she died from lung cancer. Sir Tom, who returns to ITV screens this weekend on The Voice, was heartbroken after her passing and doubted he could ever “fall in love” again. The 80-year-old, who rose to fame in the Sixties, gave insight into the first moments he saw his wife during a candid confession.
Sir Tom described his late wife as “the most important thing in my life” but during their marriage was known to have been “serially unfaithful”.
He dismissed his affairs as “fun and games” after being called out for only listing regrets from his early days as a musician and not his relationship.
The Welsh singer claimed his cheating had no effect on his marriage and he “hadn’t done anything bad” in his life.
In 2015, he told The Big Issue: “All in all, no matter what happened, my marriage is still solid and my son still loves me.”
Although in one instance Linda “chinned” him after one affair made national news.
The inflammatory report detailed his fling with one-time Miss World Marjorie Wallace, from the US.
Upon discovering the affair, Sir Tom’s bodyguard Dai walked away and the singer told her “go ahead”.
In 2015, he told The Sunday Times: “I stood there and took it. She chinned me… She punched and shouted.”
Sir Tom’s affairs were well known and while the singer was relatively tight-lipped about his flings, he did admit to cheating on Linda.
He once claimed to have slept with up to 250 women a year at the height of his fame, during a 2012 interview with the Telegraph.
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Sir Tom claimed fans bombarded him with attention, especially in the US, and backstage he had a specific area where he would take groupies.
That part of the stage was dubbed “the workbench”, because it was where Sir Tom engaged in sexual acts.
In an unusual remark, the singer once confessed that he had an alternative use for mouthwash.
Sir Tom told The Big Issue: “I use Listerine to make sure everything down there is sterile, like a surgeon before an op.
“It’s a good way to do it… I say that mouthwash is not only for gargling.”
Despite his regular affairs, Sir Tom regularly stated that Linda was the only woman for him.
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During a 2015 interview with the late US talk show host Larry King, who died from sepsis in January, the singer admitted that he deliberately avoided talking about his affairs.
He also revealed that Linda was his first kiss when he was around 10 years old.
During their early courtship, Sir Tom would take his future wife to a phone box at the end of her road, where they would kiss as teenagers.
Later, after the council planned to remove the old telecommunications booth in Treforest, Pontypridd, he had it shipped to his Los Angeles home.
Sunday Times writer Bryan Appleyard explained that Sir Tom “installed the swimming pool with a working phone inside”.
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Sir Tom recalled those days fondly and remembered yearning to be near Linda when he battled with tuberculosis (TB) at the age of 12.
In 2019, the World Health Organisation reported the lung condition killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.
Fatal cases of TB in the UK are considered to be low in recent years but 350 people died from the condition in 2006.
During Sir Tom’s battle, he was forced to stay at home for two years and spent most of his time bed-bound.
However, there were occasions when he would struggle to the front door to watch his fellow classmates walk to school.
He told the Sunday Times that he was “already in love with Linda” by this point in his life.
Sir Tom recalled: “When I had TB, I had a physical heartache for this girl.”
He remembered standing in the doorway while the rain poured down outside and felt emotional whenever he saw Linda.
Sir Tom said: “I don’t know what it is about rain but you seem to think more when it’s coming down.”
When he didn’t see her, the loved-up youngster used to think: “Where is she? What is she doing?”
Sir Tom married Linda at 16 years old and a month later, she gave birth to their son Mark, now 63.
He claimed the relationship with Linda gave him “more strength” and determination to succeed, unlike other teenagers.
Sir Tom said: “I saw a lot of them not taking life very seriously, they were flippant.
“They didn’t give a f***, the ones I hung out with anyway.”
With a wife and son to financially support, Sir Tom felt he “had more” on his “mind” and knew he had to hold down his job at a paper mill.
When Linda died in 2016 from lung cancer, one of at least three cancer scares, he doubted he “didn’t know” whether he “would make it”.
Sir Tom said: “There were days when I felt I couldn’t get up, you don’t want to get out of bed to start with.”
After seeking help from a counsellor, he learned to be “more realistic” about what had happened.
Sir Tom said: “Time is a healer… things sink in and you realise, ‘This is it, this is the way it’s going to be.’”
Sir Tom Jones appears on The Voice, which airs at 8.30pm Saturday on ITV.
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