'He was a massive life force' - bandmate remembers Tom Parker
The Wanted star Tom, who was from Bolton, tragically died in 2022 at the age of 33, 17 months after announcing his diagnosis with an inoperable brain tumour.
Now, his bandmate Jay McGuiness has spoken out about the late star as part of BBC Two's Pilgrimage: The Road Through The Alps, which sees celebrities of differing faiths and beliefs walk together through the Austrian and Swiss Alps.
The 34-year-old reflects on Tom's death in the reality programme and told ITV's Good Morning Britain that grieving publicly can come with feelings of 'shame'.
He said: 'Especially with grief, there's often quite a lot of shame grieving publicly, and it's easy to feel like 'I don't want to cry' and all that sort of thing, and 'I hate the idea of crying'.
'I also am considering Tom's family and friends, wife and kids, every time I'm talking about him, whether I'm asked about him or not, that's a reminder about something that could be painful, that could be on the wrong day for them to hear about.
Read more: Widow of Tom Parker's moving message to other women who have lost a partner
Read more: Tom Parker's widow Kelsey reveals she's pregnant 3 years after The Wanted stars death
Read more: The Wanted singer, Tom Parker, remembered with memorial bench by Bolton charity
The Wanted 'I want people to remember that, man, he was a massive life force. He was hilarious. I want people to remember the good as well as just remember how things ended.'
Speaking about Pilgrimage: The Road Through The Alps, McGuiness said he was 'never convinced that anyone knows' where people go after they die and added: 'I think maybe we don't find out until you're gone.'
Tom disclosed in October 2020 that he had been diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma and had begun radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
He married his wife Kelsey in 2018, and the couple had two children, Aurelia and Bodhi.
The Wanted formed in 2009, comprised of Parker and McGuiness, Max George, Siva Kaneswaran and Nathan Sykes, and had two UK number one singles and four UK top 10 albums, with best-known songs including All Time Low and Glad You Came.
McGuiness is currently playing William Shakespeare in the UK and Ireland tour of musical & Juliet.
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