The Wanted's Jay McGuiness remembers Tom Parker as ‘massive life force'
Singer and actor Jay McGuiness has remembered his The Wanted bandmate Tom Parker as a 'massive life force' who was 'hilarious'.
Parker died in 2022 at the age of 33, 17 months after announcing his diagnosis with an inoperable brain tumour.
Advertisement
McGuiness, who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, is among seven well-known personalities featured in 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.
Nathan Sykes, Tom Parker, Jay McGuiness, Max George and Siva Kaneswaran of The Wanted (Yui Mok/PA)
The 34-year-old reflects on Parker's death in the reality programme and told ITV's Good Morning Britain that grieving publicly can come with feelings of 'shame'.
'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'', he said.
'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.
Advertisement
'I want people to remember that, man, he was a massive life force. He was hilarious.'
He added: '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.'
⛰️ Our seven celebrity pilgrims reflect on their "emotional" Pilgrimage journey and reveal what they learned about themselves on The Road Through the Alps
Learn more ➡️
https://t.co/F2vDMWRXdu
pic.twitter.com/TbeUYSAxKq
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress)
April 17, 2025
Parker disclosed in October 2020 that he had been diagnosed with stage four glioblastoma and had begun radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Advertisement
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.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Evening Standard
an hour ago
- Evening Standard
David Walliams ‘gave Nazi salutes while recording BBC's Would I Lie To You?'
He is reported to have made the salutes while his teammate on the show, Call The Midwife's Helen George, was telling a story about her experience on Strictly Come Dancing, in which she said she sprained her wrist from 'waving too much during the Strictly tour'.
Scottish Sun
an hour ago
- Scottish Sun
Laurence Fox arrives at court charged with sex offences after ‘sharing upskirting photo of TV star Narinder Kaur'
Narinder previously said she felt "violated, humiliated and degraded" IN THE DOCK Laurence Fox arrives at court charged with sex offences after 'sharing upskirting photo of TV star Narinder Kaur' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) LAURENCE Fox has arrived at court charged with sex offences after he allegedly shared an upskirting photo of TV star Narinder Kaur. The disgraced actor and failed politician, 46, is accused of re-posting the image on his X account in April 2024. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 5 Laurence Fox has arrived at court to formally enter a plea Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 5 Narinder has appeared on Sunday Morning Live and Good Morning Britain It showed Narinder, who rose to fame on Big Brother, climbing out of a taxi in 2009. The photo was taken without the TV star's consent or knowledge. Fox arrived at Woolwich Crown Court today where he is due to formally enter a plea. He is charged with two offences under section 66A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The first charge alleges on April 30 last year, he "intentionally shared a photograph which showed, or appeared to show, another person, namely Narinder Kaur, in an intimate state, with the intention of causing that person alarm, distress or humiliation'. The second says Fox "intentionally sent" a photograph of Narinder's genitals "intending that the person or another person would for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification, and being reckless as to whether that person would be caused alarm, distress or humiliation". If convicted, he faces up to two years in prison and could be placed on the Sex Offenders Register. Narinder - who has waived her right to anonymity - reported the image when it was shared online, triggering an 11-month investigation by the Metropolitan Police. She previously said she felt "violated, humiliated and degraded" by the incident. In 2019, Fox moved away from his acting work, where he was best known for detective series Lewis. Since then, Fox has repeatedly come under fire for his views on race, gender and Covid. He was sacked from GB News in 2023 after making sexist remarks about a female journalist live on air. Fox attempted to move into politics and ran to replace Sadiq Khan as London Mayor under his political group, the Reclaim Party. But he only managed to pull in 47,000 votes in 2021 and lost his £10,000 deposit in the process. He married actress and singer Billie Piper in December 2007 and they have two sons, now aged 11 and 15. The couple separated in March 2016, with their divorce finalised two months later. 5 Former Big Brother star Narinder, 52, reported the post to police when it was shared Credit: Darren Fletcher 5 Fox has garnered controversy with his views Credit: Getty
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Loose Women star admits 'we're all devastated - people are struggling' as she gives DAMNING verdict on ITV cuts 'affecting people's lives'
A Loose Women star has admitted 'we're all devastated' and 'people are struggling' in a damning verdict on the ITV cuts 'affecting people's lives'. Regular panellist Sue Cleaver, 61, has broken her silence about how the cast and crew at the chat show are really feeling about the scheduling bloodbath. It was announced last month that from January, both Loose Women and Lorraine will air only 30 weeks per year, as opposed to their current year-round schedules. Lorraine's run time was also slashed from an hour to 30 minutes. ITV will also axe more than 220 jobs - nearly half its daytime TV staff, who also work on Good Morning Britain and This Morning. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Former Coronation Street star Sue told the Express: 'We've been through it at Corrie as well and these are people's lives, and I just feel very much for all the production and the crew because people are struggling. 'It's affecting young families and it's obviously been a pretty hard time for people to hear that. 'But, you know, we have to just embrace change, and we'll see what happens.' She is not the only panellist to speak out against the changes, with fellow Loose Women host Nadia Sawalha having hit out at them too. The presenter, 60, choked back tears last month as she described scenes of 'shock and fear' in the corridors at ITV after 'hundreds' of shock redundancies and pay cuts. Nadia - one of the show's most popular presenters, present from its first series in 199 - also admitted even she does not know her fate on the show. She explained she is self-employed and 'could be let go tomorrow'. Speaking alongside her husband Mark Adderley on the couple's YouTube channel she explained: 'Do you know what? At the moment, all of us on screen are in work and are proud of what we do. 'But behind the scenes, there are people that are really suffering and what you don't realise is when you attack the show, you attack them, because you never see all the army of people behind the scenes and how hard they work.' Struggling to hold back her tears, Nadia added: 'So, to all my friends and colleagues behind the scenes who have just got a huge shock out of the blue: I'm so sorry. 'Mark knows how upset I've been at home about it. I just can't bear it. So, just be f*****g kind to people.' Earlier in the video, Nadia explained: 'What people don't realise at Loose Women is that we're self-employed, I am self-employed. Every contract is a new contract.' Commenting on the unpredictability of television work, she added: 'I could be let go tomorrow, in five years, you don't know because we're not employees. 'So, I can't tell you anything except I am on for my next contract. 'What has been brutal over the past week - and I am getting tearful about it - is that hundreds of people are going to be made redundant out of the blue. 'A lot of my friends and colleagues have been there for decades and I cannot tell you how upsetting it was to see people walking around numb with shock and fear about what they are going to do. Commenting on the unpredictability of television work, she added: 'I could be let go tomorrow, in five years, you don't know because we're not employees' 'That has been so awful. It has been worse than whatever trolls have been saying about our show that we feel really protective of.' On top of all the other cuts coming in January, the beleaguered Loose Women will also have another vital part of their show axed. MailOnline revealed earlier this month the series is scrapping the live studio audience when the programme airs with a reduced schedule of just 30 episodes next year. The change is a further blow to panellists including Ruth Langsford, 65, Kaye Adams, 62, Nadia Sawalha, 60, and Charlene White, 44, who rely on audience reactions to create atmosphere. Bosses have got rid of the studio audience to save costs, with insiders revealing that it's an expensive feature due to being managed by an external company, who also provides security and a warmup person, but for the presenters, it's going to be a 'disaster.' It comes after ITV announced dramatic budget cuts to their daytime schedule from halving Lorraine to 30 minutes and only airing the show during school term times to cutting Loose Women's output to 30 weeks a year. And sources have told MailOnline how key talent on Loose Women are 'upset' to see the live studio audience go because it's what sets the season apart from Lorraine and Good Morning Britain amid fears viewers will 'switch off' altogether.
