Sir Tom Jones states wife has battled depression all through their marriage

After marrying in 1957, when both were 16 years old, Jones and his wife appeared set for a life as an ordinary young couple bringing up their son Mark until the It’s Not Unusual star was spotted by future manager Gordon Mills in 1963. Despite numerous extra-marital affairs Sir Tom’s wife Linda, has stood by her husband, only once apparently hitting him in response to reading about his infidelity in a newspaper.

The Welsh singer called his 58-year marriage “rock-solid” and said “all the rest was fun and games”. “I don’t look like I did either, but I try my best”, he said. She says, “I don’t look like that anymore”.

“She’s the most important thing in my life”, Sir Tom said.

However, he has now revealed he was livid when he heard the news and declared BBC bosses “can go f**k themselves”. “I said, ‘I don’t give a f***.’ I enjoyed it, but if they don’t want me any more, they can go f*** themselves”, Jones admitted. The Sex Bomb singer found himself replaced by Boy George for the new series of the BBC1 singing contest and was only told of the decision the day before the announcement was made.

This is just one of the topics Jones talks about in his seemingly extremely candid autobiography, Over The Top and Back Again – a 528-page tome which will be followed a day later by a companion soundtrack album, Long Lost Suitcase. “Sometimes you wonder whether it’s run by humans or a machine in the basement”, Jones writes.