{"id":68905,"date":"2023-12-12T15:40:37","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T15:40:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/?p=68905"},"modified":"2023-12-12T15:40:37","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T15:40:37","slug":"kelsey-parker-christmas-will-never-be-the-same-again-after-losing-tom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/talkcelnews.com\/celebrities\/kelsey-parker-christmas-will-never-be-the-same-again-after-losing-tom\/","title":{"rendered":"Kelsey Parker: Christmas will never be the same again after losing Tom"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been a tough 18 months for Kelsey Parker, who lost her husband Tom in March last year to an aggressive brain tumour. Now the mother-of-two is preparing for her second Christmas without the singer \u2013 and it\u2019s proving tough for her. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like my Christmas spirit has been sucked out of me. I\u2019m not really looking forward to it, for obvious reasons,\u201d says Kelsey speaking exclusively to us <\/b> at Action For Children\u2019s Starry Night Gala. <\/p>\n

Despite her struggles, though, Kelsey, 33, is determined to stay strong for daughter Aurelia, four, and three-year-old son, Bodhi, her children with Tom.<\/p>\n

She says, \u201cMy kids are excited for Christmas so I want it to be as magical and amazing for them as possible. But it\u2019s still going to be so tough for me because my Christmas is never going to be the same again.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThey\u2019re really looking forward to it \u2013 but they have been to see a lot of different Father Christmases, which is confusing for them. So I\u2019m having to explain that the reason they\u2019ve seen so many is that they are Santa\u2019s workers and the real one lives in the North Pole. I\u2019m hoping they are buying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom, who was 33 when he died, lives on in his children\u2019s hearts. \u201cThey believe in the magic, but they ask me every day about their dad, too, and speak to him all the time,\u201d Kelsey says. \u201cSo it is hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

She met Tom in 2009, a year before he shot to fame with boy band The Wanted, alongside Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Sykes. The couple tied the knot in 2018 with a ceremony in Surrey, and referred to each other as their soulmates. But in 2020, Tom was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, which he battled for two years.<\/p>\n

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A small positive in the turmoil of the last two years is that Kelsey has found romance again, with builder Sean Boggans. They struck up a relationship in 2022 shortly after Tom\u2019s death, but reportedly separated in spring, after five months. However, they have since been photographed together and are said to have reconciled, something Kelsey declined to talk about.<\/p>\n

Sean was found guilty of manslaughter \u2013 which he denied \u2013 at the Old Bailey in September 2013. And as Kelsey went public with the romance, the revelation about Sean\u2019s past led to increased trolling of her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how people can be so mean or negative to me after everything that I\u2019ve been through,\u201d she says. \u201cI also still shine such a massive light on brain tumours and the community and I do my best to get as much funding for it as possible, so I don\u2019t get it.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBefore Tom got diagnosed I didn\u2019t know that they only got 1% of the national spend on cancer research, and brain tumours kill more people under 40 than any other cancer. So it\u2019s educating people about these things that I want to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Kelsey may dread the festive season, she is getting ready for a fresh chapter as she goes into 2024. \u201cI am looking forward to next year,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to raise a lot of money for brain tumours. This year I\u2019ve been trying to balance dealing with my grief and learning how to live my life without Tom, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s been all about. So while my grief remains the same now and is still so hard, next year I can focus on raising money.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a very successful Father\u2019s Day football match for Tom last year, so I\u2019m hoping to do that again in 2024. We\u2019ve got some big plans.\u201d<\/p>\n

This Christmas, join Action for Children and become a Secret Santa for a vulnerable child – visit iamsanta.org.uk. You could help a vulnerable child feel the magic of Christmas. <\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n