Tom Jones gives heartbreaking tribute to his late wife of 59 years who he fell in love with 'aged 12'

2 September 2022, 14:24

Sir Tom Jones may have been a sex symbol throughout his career but there was only one true love of his life, the star's late wife Linda (left, pictured together in 1965). Picture: Getty

By Giorgina Ramazzotti

Sir Tom Jones was a guest on The Joe Wicks Podcast when he gave a heartfelt tribute to 'the love of his wife' Linda who died from cancer in 2016.

Sir Tom Jones may have been a sex symbol throughout his career but there was only one true love of his life, the star's late wife Linda.

The Welsh singer paid tribute to her in a new interview, describing her as 'part of me'.

Speaking on The Joe Wicks Podcast, Tom Jones, 80, said that the only woman for him had been his late wife.

When asked if he thought he would find love again, The Voice coach said: "No, I'll never love again," he replied. "There was one love of my life, and that was Linda (the pair pictured in 1965). Picture: Getty
Sir Tom also shared that the pair had fallen in love when they were both just 12-years-old (pictured, outside their home in Wales in 1967). Picture: Getty

When asked if he thought he would find love again, The Voice coach said: "No, I'll never love again," he replied. "There was one love of my life, and that was Linda.

"I'm glad we had our lives together but I wish she was here now; we would be old together."

Sir Tom also shared that the pair had fallen in love when they were both just 12-years-old.

"I was in love with my wife as a kid," he confessed. "We grew up together and we loved one another ever since we saw one another."

Linda Trenchard, Tom's childhood sweetheart, passed away aged 75 from lung cancer in April 2016, leaving behind her devastated husband and their son, Mark.

"I was in love with my wife as a kid," he confessed on The Joe Wicks Podcast. "We grew up together and we loved one another ever since we saw one another.". Picture: Getty
Speaking on The One Show in April, Tom Jones recalled Linda's last words on her deathbed and her life changing advice to him. Picture: Getty

Speaking on The One Show in April, Tom Jones recalled Linda's last words on her deathbed and her life changing advice to him.

"I was there in the hospital room with her for the last 10 days and I said, 'My god Linda, I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself because I won’t be able to sing, I won’t be able to get the words out,' Tom Jones recalled. "She said: 'You must!'"

"She said: 'Don’t fall with me! You know, I gotta go. But you don’t have to. And you’ve got to go and do what we planned to do', which was to move back to London," he told a visibly moved Alex Jones.

After Linda died, Tom Jones decided to sell their home in LA and move back to the UK, where he bought a flat and settled in London.

Linda Trenchard, Tom's childhood sweetheart, passed away aged 75 from lung cancer in April 2016, leaving behind her devastated husband and their son, Mark. (The family pictured moving to their new house in Surrey in 1967). Picture: Getty
Tom Jones' son Mark (pictured with the star in 2015) has been the singer's manager since 1986. Picture: Getty

In a previous interview with The Observer, Tom had revealed his heartbreak following Linda's death.

"Losing Linda five years ago was the lowest part of my life. I honestly didn't think I was going to get through it.

"I had to go and see a grief therapist because I kept thinking, 'Did I do enough? Was I on the case? Did she slip away without me really realising what was happening?'

"But the therapist said, 'No, she had lung cancer, there is nothing you could have done.' Now every time I step on stage, Linda is with me. Before she died, she said, 'Don't think of me dying, think of me laughing.' That's how I remember her."