4 days ago
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- Wales Online
Tom Jones played matchmaker for another huge Welsh singer
Tom Jones played matchmaker for another huge Welsh singer
It's not unusual that Tom Jones managed to play cupid for his former duet partner.
It appears Sir Tom isn't just a talented vocalist but also dabbles in matchmaking.
(Image: undefined via Getty Images )
Tom Jones isn't just an incredible vocalist, but it turns out he is also a brilliant matchmaker. Former Catatonia singer, Cerys Matthews has her long time friend Sir Tom to thank for setting her up with her husband of 14 years.
In 2011, Cerys married Steve 'Abbo' Abbott, a music manager and member of post-punk band UK Decay. However, this may well not have happened if the Sex Bomb singer hadn't set them up. Tom had told the pair that they found each other attractive and the rest was history.
At the time, the music manager hadn't even heard of Catatonia as he was living in America. For the latest TV and showbiz gossip sign up to our newsletter
Steve said: "I lived in America, so I missed Catatonia. I only knew them because I was working with Tom Jones and he recorded with her. It was Tom actually that put us together. He and Mark, his son, knew we had a lot of common interests."
The pair of Welsh singers already had a close bond as in 1999 Cerys Matthews and Sir Tom Jones, had duetted together on the festive hit 'Baby, It's Cold Outside'.
Sir Tom with Kelly Jones, Cerys Matthews and the late Stuart Cable at the launch of The Pop Factory TV studio in Porth
(Image: SOUTH WALES ECHO )
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Steve continued: "We were out with them in Ronnie Scott's one night, I was her manager, and she went to the toilet and Tom said, 'Hey, boyo, I think she fancies you.'
"I'm like, 'Get out. Get away from it.' I went to the toilet, and he said to her, 'I think your manager fancies you.' No conversation happened, and that's how we ended up together."
Now, after 14 years of marriage the couple are raising five beautiful children in their blended family .
Cerys Matthews and her husband Steve Abbott got married in 2011 after being set up by Sir Tom Jones
(Image: Western Mail )
The pair's relationship is built on their shared interests, one of which is of course music, and Steve says that he and the 'Mulder and Scully' hitmaker both value meaningful lyrics over melody in songs.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz, he explained: "A great song with great lyrics, oh my goodness. I'll always listen to the lyrics.
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"Some of the radio shows I listen to, you get a great tune that starts, and then the lyrics, 'I want to be me / I want to be free / Can I be free? I want to be me / That's what I want to be.' I'm like, 'Oh my God. Bloody awful lyrics.' I just can't listen to it.
"Actually, my wife Cerys is the same, the lyric is so important. The melody is important but having a great lyric is so important."
