Tom Jones ‘doesn’t regret’ cheating on wife he met aged 12 with ‘hundreds’ of women
Sir Tom Jones admitted he ‘didn’t regret’ committing infidelity in his heyday, claiming his exploits at the time were just ‘fun and games’.
Star of The Voice UK Tom, 84, and his long-term wife, the late Lady Melinda Rose Woodward, were childhood sweethearts.
The pair initially met on the schoolyard in Pontypridd before getting hitched in their mid-teens and welcoming their only son, Mark Woodward, now 67, in April 1957.
Tom has admitted that while his marriage to Melinda - known as Linda - was ‘solid’, he was unfaithful to her on a myriad of occasions.
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In 2012, The Daily Telegraph published an article where the ‘Sexbomb’ singer claimed he’d committed infidelity ‘over 250 times’ per year during the height of his fame.
However, he reported that the affairs had been nothing more than ‘fun and games’ and that he ‘didn’t regret’ his actions as they ‘never hurt anybody’.
Instead, speaking to the Independent in the same year, Tom admitted his biggest regret actually occurred in a Los Angeles club in 1965.
The musician stated his US visa had run out a few days prior but had attended the venue to watch Little Richard perform.
“My manager had advised me not to do anything that might constitute work,” he explained to the publication. “Halfway through the show, Richard invited me up on stage.
“He was on fire that night, and I wanted to help him rip all hell out of that tune, but I didn’t.
“I just stood there, shaking my head, like I was convinced the moment I opened my mouth, Immigration would appear.
“I tell you, I still think about that sometimes. That’s a regret,” the crooner added.
Despite his unfaithfulness, Tom and his wife never divorced and reportedly never discussed his affairs.
“[The affairs were] never discussed, I was never put on the spot, he said during his 2016 stint on The Jonathan Ross Show.
“Linda is a wonderful person and she would never put me on the spot. She loves being married to me and I love being married to her.”
In the same year, Linda died at Cedars Sinai Hospital in LA after a ‘short but fierce battle with cancer’, aged 75.
Following his spouse’s death, the ‘Delilah’ star returned from their life in America to purchase a flat in London.
He also proceeded to take a season off from helming BBC's The Voice UK, temporarily being replaced by Paloma Faith.
He returned to the singing competition the following year and has remained a permanent fixture alongside will.i.am, the panel’s longest-serving judge.
The 13th season of The Voice UK sees the pair joined by American singer/songwriter LeAnn Rymes, Tom Fletcher and former Masked Singer champion Danny Jones.
Tune into The Voice UK every Saturday from 8pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Celebrity, Music, ITV
Ella Scott