KELSEY Parker says she is looking forward to a ‘new phase’ of her life with the man she believes was ‘sent’ by late husband Tom.
The mum-of-two went Instagram official over the weekend with a tree surgeon called Will, posting a loved up picture, two years after the tragic death of The Wanted star.
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And just days before she revealed her new romance, Kelsey told The Sun: “Do you know what? I’m in a better place than I was.
“I think I just jumped straight back into work, because ultimately, I was thinking ‘s***, I need to provide for the kids.’
“Now I feel lighter and I feel like I can see more clearly.”
Single mum Kelsey was enjoying a rare night out with new love Will at a star-studded charity dinner in London.
Sitting together at the Royal Garden Hotel at the event, for the Paul Strank Roofing Charity, the pair looked totally in love, laughing and getting cozy at the table.
Later they were spotted dancing and chatting with MAFS star Ella Morgan in the smoking area.
Kelsey told The Sun she had finally lifted out of the “fog” of grief.
“I think I was having an out of body experience,” she says.
“I can’t explain it, like people that are going through grief, you can’t explain what you actually go through and the process you go through.
“I wasn’t within my body. I didn’t really know what I was doing.
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“And now, you’re years on, you go, do you know what? That fog sort of lifted.”
She revealed she was full of hope for the new chapter in her life, adding: “I feel like we’re in a new phase.
“I feel like September is always a great month, new opportunities, new visions.
“And I’ve got some exciting projects that I’m working on, stuff that I feel is going to really help people through grief.”
As well as revelling in her new relationship, Kelsey says she is focusing on her children Aurelia, four, and Bodhi, three, and was able to take the summer off to devote to them.
“I’ve had a really nice summer. I think what’s really hard for me is, obviously it is just me.,” she says.
“So I took the kids away for three weeks to Greece and we went camping over the summer.
“I just really want to spend time with them and I feel like I’ve built a foundation now with work that I can give them that time because I don’t want them to miss out on having me. They’ve already missed out on having dad there.”
Tom ‘sending signals’
Heartbroken Kelsey was just 32 and mum to two toddlers when her soulmate Tom, who she wed in 2018, passed away after an 18 month battle with cancer.
Grief-stricken, she swore off romance to adjust to her new role as widow and single parent, making the children her main priority.
But a year later she was ready to dip her toes back into the dating pool, seeing electrician Sean Boggans for just under a year.
“Tom will always be the love of my life and if I could choose I’d choose him and the life we were building together,” she said at the time.
“But someone somewhere had other plans and I just needed to get through the long days.”
After their split, in December 2023, she said it “just wasn’t right” and later said in an interview that she had faith that Tom was “sending her signs” from beyond.
“When it’s meant to be, it’ll be, and that person will be sent by Tom, I reckon. He’s picking them for me,” she told OK! Magazine in June.
Now I feel lighter and I feel like I can see more clearly
Kelsey Parker
“I think he sent Sean for a reason. Sean was what I needed at the time and he was wonderful. I’ll never say a bad word about him.
“But, right now, I need to focus on work and providing for my children.”
The latest post, which revealed her new romance, sees Kelsey standing in a garden looking glam in an orange and red floral print dress, with her hand resting on Will, who looked dapper in a grey suit.
Looking down at Kelsey as they laughed together, his face was hidden from view.
She captioned the picture with a heart.
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Hunky Will has been a big part of Kelsey’s life over the past few months.
An insider said: “Tom and Kelsey really hit if off earlier this year and he has been incredibly supportive of her.
“He helped her at a recent charity football match for Tom Parker and has attended other events with.”
But speaking at the celebrity dinner, it was clear her babies are still her number one focus.
“I’m ultimately a single mum,” she said. “I’m a solo parent, and it’s tough. It’s financially tough.
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“And even when Tom passed away, I still had to provide for the kids.
“And I’m quite judged on everything that I do, which is hard as a woman.
“I just think people just judge in general, don’t they?
“But I’m a workaholic. I love working and I have to provide for them.”
But she said the children are coping with life without their dad remarkably well – and every day they remind Kelsey of Tom.
“They’re really good,” she said.
The most common symptoms of a brain tumour
More than 12,000 Brits are diagnosed with a primary brain tumour every year — of which around half are cancerous — with 5,300 losing their lives.
The disease is the most deadly cancer in children and adults aged under 40, according to the Brain Tumour Charity.
Brain tumours reduce life expectancies by an average of 27 years, with just 12 per cent of adults surviving five years after diagnosis.
There are two main types, with non-cancerous benign tumours growing more slowly and being less likely to return after treatment.
Cancerous malignant brain tumours can either start in the brain or spread there from elsewhere in the body and are more likely to return.
Brain tumours can cause headaches, seizures, nausea, vomiting and memory problems, according to the NHS.
They can also lead to changes in personality weakness or paralysis on one side of the problem and problems with speech or vision.
The nine most common symptoms are:
- Headaches
- Seizures
- Feeling sick
- Being sick
- Memory problems
- Change in personality
- Weakness or paralysis on one side of the body
- Vision problems
- Speech problems
If you are suffering any of these symptoms, particularly a headache that feels different from the ones you normally get, you should visit your GP.
Source: NHS
“It’s odd. You know, it’s always tough. I think they’ve both started a new school, so now they’re talking about families again.
“And I just think it’s so hard for them in general because they’re navigating their way through life but also, having lost a parent, it’s just tough.
“Tom’s massively alive in our house and I’ve always kept it alive when we talk about him pretty much every day.
“But also because they’re getting older, their personalities are getting stronger.
“Bhodi is an emotional blackmailer. I’m like, You’re just like your dad.
“They remind me of him so much.”
Family help
And as well as signs from Tom, Kelsey was full of praise for “the village” of friends and family who supported who through Tom’s illness and since his death, and said she could not have coped without them.
“I do feel like Tom’s been there with me through the grief and helped me.
“I feel like we’ve lost the village, people are so focused on work now.
“But if I didn’t have the village, I would not have been able to get through this.
“My aunt is my best friend. My mum’s always there, Tom’s family.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have so many amazing people around me that helped me through it. My best friends have been at my front door when I’ve needed them. .
“But when the s*** hit the fan, then people arrive.
“You need people around you and especially with me. I was so young, to have lost a partner and Bodhi was only 18 months old.
“It was crazy. And now to think they’ve gone to school, and how life has has changed.
“I don’t know how I actually did it though Tom being ill but you just keep going.
“That’s what I’ve always done. I think that’s how I’ve got through life.”