Tom Parker’s widow Kelsey has opened up about the bond the late musician’s bandmates have with his children and revealed how Jay McGuiness moved in when the star was seriously ill.
The Wanted singer after a battle with an incurable stage four brain .
Kelsey has since spoken about how his bandmates will be on hand if their children, Aurelia, two, and Bodhi, 18 months, need them, and they’ll tell them stories about their dad.
‘They’re a massive part of our lives and always have been,’ she said.
‘They are role models for the kids too, so I want them to come over and have their input in their lives and to tell them stories about their dad.’
Kelsey added that Jay, , had moved into the loft room of their house to help out when Tom became seriously ill.
‘Jay stayed with us. He was upstairs in the loft room, just so I knew he was there,’ Kelsey
‘When I woke up in the mornings I knew I could just get up and go to see Tom at the hospice.’
Parker’s bandmates, Jay, Max George, Siva Kaneswaran and Nathan Sykes, , carrying his casket to St Francis of Assisi church in Petts Wood, south-east London on April 20.
Max agave an emotional speech, beginning with a joke referencing the band being pallbearers: ‘I could actually hear him saying, “It’s about time”, as he carried us for the last 12 years.
‘Tom was always a brother, he made such an impact from the start. His love for music and striving for success outmatched all of us.’
He joked that Parker had been the only member of The Wanted to have had a ‘punch-up’ with all his bandmates, prompting laughter from attendees.
Siva also spoke, hailing Parker’s ‘big Boltonian heart’ before adding: ‘He was never afraid to stand up for what was right, no matter the risk.’
In the weeks before his death, for their delayed reunion tour.
In his last Instagram post before his death, Parker shared his love for his friends, posting a photo of them together on stage.
He wrote in the caption: ‘Dream Team ❤️’.
Parker and Kelsey had been married since 2018 and welcomed their son, Bodhi, in October last year. Their daughter, Aurelia Rose, was born in 2019.
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