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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Katherine Heslop

Tom Parker's widow Kelsey says there's 'no rulebook' for grief a year on from singer's death

Kelsey Parker says there's "no rulebook" for grief after the death of her husband, The Wanted's Tom Parker, a year ago.

The dancer, 32, shared children Bodhi and Aurelia with her late husband, who died aged 33 on March 30, after a battle with brain cancer, and says the family celebrate the singer "every single day."

Kelsey was speaking to the Mirror as she appeared in the first episode of the MTV digital series, MTV faces, which explores grief and is hosted by Ashley Cain, who interviews Brenda Edwards, Roman Kemp and Jordan Stephens in the following episodes.

Asked whether speaking about her Tom gets easier with time, Kelsey, in a joint interview with Ashley, said: "I don't think it gets easier but for me it's sharing Tom's story and sharing the love we had and celebrating Tom."

Tom and Kelsey with their daughters Bodhi and Aurelia (Kelsey Parker/Instagram)

Speaking about being a mum to Aurelia, three, and Bodhi, two, while grieving, Kelsey told the Mirror: "Being a mum is relentless anyway, so I don't really get that time because my children are go, go, go.

"I always say my kids wake up in the morning and they are happy to we do just push through life and get through it and then I might get five minutes at night to sit there and think about Tom.

"But we talk about him and we celebrate him every single day."

Tom died after a battle with brain cancer (Tom Parker/Instagram)

Turning to what she has learnt about grief, through taking part in the digital series, Kelsey said: "With grief there's no rulebook and that's what it's taught me, that life is life and we just have to live it. And if you're feeling sad you roll with it, and if you're feeling happy you roll with it."

Appearing on Loose Women to speak about the tragic anniversary of her husband's death, Kelsey explained how she developed a nervous tic ahead of the day, as well as her birthday and Mother's Day.

She said: "It's been so hard for me in March. I've had so much anxiety that was building up when we hit the first of March. I'm sort of happy now that April is here.

"At the beginning of March, I kept clearing my throat, I was really nervous and struggled with anxiety because I think I knew what was coming. We had my birthday, Mother's Day and then the 30th was a year since we lost Tom."

Kelsey says there's 'no rulebook' for grief (GETTY)

She added: "I think it's just that it had been a year and I hadn't seen him for a whole year now and where's this year gone. That first six to eight months, I was in complete shock. I was working, I was on the go all the time. I couldn't believe this had happened to us."

The family spent the anniversary at one of Tom's special benches with beautiful viewers over the local area as they all gathered to remember Tom. "We sat up there for hours and just celebrated and laid flowers for him," she shared.

MTV FACES hosted by Ashley Cain premiered on the MTV UK YouTube channel on 30th March and weekly thereafter.

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