Tom Parker’s Widow Kelsey Breaks Silence on Baby Loss: ‘Can’t Believe I’m Back Here’

Kelsey Parker is opening up for the first time about the stillbirth of her baby son Phoenix.

On Thursday, Aug. 7, the podcaster and widow of The Wanted’s Tom Parker, 34, appeared on Lorraine and spoke with host Lorraine Kelly for the very first time about her baby boy, who she previously announced was “born sleeping.”

“I know people are absolutely devastated for us as a family,” Kelsey began. “And it is devastating, but I am strong.”

The mom of two announced her son’s stillbirth in a post on Instagram that included a poem she’d written for her late son, whom she shares with partner Will Lindsay.

“I have friends that obviously I couldn’t tell and they were out in restaurants and they were literally read the post and they were crying,” she said of the post. “For me, a poem, I like to share poems. I think they’re so meaningful and powerful and that suited us to share our news. And it’s such hard news to share.”

Asked how her two kids — Aurelia, 6, and Bodhi, 4, who she shares with her late husband Tom — are helping her through this difficult time, Kelsey explained that her kids are “my everything.”

“And they have got me through the darkest of times. I can’t believe I’m back here, you know, three and a half years later, I’m dealing with such a loss and a devastation,” she said, referencing Parker’s death in 2022 following a diagnosis of stage four glioblastoma. “But me and Will have the kids and they have to have normality.”

Kelsey explained that she felt like she had to rip the Band-Aid off and reenter normal life.

“If I’d left it till after the summer holidays and I came back and I saw the parents, people don’t know what to say,” she said. “We’re so awful about talking about grief and loss and death. And us as a family, we’re not. So I did get up and I did the do school run, and I faced everyone.” 

As for how she’s approached her baby son’s death with her two kids, Kelsey said she feels like it’s most important to be really honest with her kids so they don’t feel like they were left out of anything.

“It’s being honest. It’s telling them facts because I never wanted them or want them to feel like I’ve not been honest and years later they go, ‘Oh but mom, you didn’t tell me this, and you didn’t tell me that,'” she shared. “And I don’t like the thought of them being in separate rooms to adults and adults having conversations because kids listen.”

“And obviously, they’ve gone through this before,” Kelsey said. “They’ve lost their dad. They know their dad’s in with the angels now. So we said Phoenix is gone with your daddy.”

Kelsey noted that she and her partner Will are just taking each day one at a time, even if each day might look different.

“But I’m strong. I keep saying this, but I am actually really strong,” she affirmed. “And the one thing we are guaranteed is that we are going to die. So I do think talking about death and grief is so important.” 

The mom of two said she’s been relying on her bereavement nurse to help her through this difficult time and took a vacation with her partner and kids to get some space from the situation. She also chose to stay off social media for a little bit because it was beginning to feel like it was too much.

“We’re allowed to be devastated,” Kelsay added at the end of her interview. “We’re allowed to be sad and we’re allowed to grieve. But just remember, everybody grieves differently.”