'LIFE WITH TOM WAS NEVER DULL I WILL TREASURE EVERY MEMORY'

AS FRIENDS, FAMILY AND FANS OF THE WANTED STAR TOM PARKER SAID GOODBYE TO HIM LAST WEEK, KELSEY PAID A TOUCHING TRIBUTE TO HER HUSBAND

- RHONA MERCER

FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

Brave Kelsey Parker led the tributes to her beloved husband Tom at his funeral last week, as their family, friends and The Wanted fans from far and wide turned out to celebrate his life and mourn his loss.

After tragically passing away last month aged 33, having been diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 2020, Tom's loved ones gathered together on the streets of south-east London on Wednesday to say their final goodbye to the dad-of-two.

Friends and family gathered to show their support

Fans wept and hugged each other as the singer's black coffin, which was decorated with beautiful white lilies, made its journey in a horse-drawn carriage from W Uden & Sons funeral parlour to the Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Church in Petts Wood.

Kelsey was too emotional to speak so had recorded her eulogy to Tom

Kelsey, 32, wept as she laid a single white rose on her "soulmate" Tom's coffin and whispered "I love you". Kelsey, who is mum to daughter Aurelia, two, and one-year-old son Bodhi, left the children at home but made sure they paid tribute to their dad with a colourful floral arrangement of the word "Daddy" with framed pictures of their handprints on top of it.

Knowing that she would be too emotional to speak on the day, grief-stricken Kelsey prerecorded a touching eulogy for the service, where she shared her beautiful memories of her life with Tom, who she married in 2018.

"To stand up in front of everyone right now would be too painful, but I want to talk about the love of my life, my Tom. So, where do I start?" she began.

"Nineteen-year-old me met Tom outside of a nightclub, I say met - I instantly saw him and said, 'Oh my god, I love him'. It was love at first sight, even if he didn't know it yet.