'What do you want me to say': Kelsey Parker speechless after being asked 'how she's coping' on late husband Tom's birthday

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Kelsey Parker reflected on the months since her late husband Tom’s death on ITVBe’s ‘Kelsey Parker: Life After Tom’

Kelsey Parker was seen struggling to respond to a message from Max George on her late husband Tom’s birthday in a new documentary that aired on Thursday.

The widow, 32, who lives in Bolton, reflected on the months since Tom Parker’s death on her ITVBe show ‘Kelsey Parker: Life After Tom’. The Wanted star, who tragically died earlier this year, was just age 33 when he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.

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Kelsey was reading messages that she received on Tom’s birthday, when she became visibly frustrated by Max George asking how she is getting on.

The mother-of-two said: “Oh I’ve got lots of messages, Max George has messaged me saying ‘how are you coping Kels?’ but messages like that I just think ‘what do you want me to say? how am I coping?”

Tom Parker and Max George (Getty Images)Tom Parker and Max George (Getty Images)
Tom Parker and Max George (Getty Images) | Getty Images for BAUER

Venting about Tom’s former bandmate, she added: “How are you coping Max... like obviously he is doing it because he does genuinely care how I am coping, but you know what do you put? How are you coping?

“I just put ‘yeah all good babes, just trying to cope the best way I can’. That’s it really, that’s just the answer. Doing these events and trying to raise money, trying to make myself feel better so that I can help some other people.”

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Tom was in The Wanted alongside Max, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness and Nathan Syke.

He and Kelsey were together for around 13 years and shared children Aurelia, three, and Bodhi, two. Kelsey said their bond was “like no other” as she described their deep love for each other.

She admitted that it can be difficult to talk about losing Tom with her friends because they can’t “really relate”, while revealing that she’s cautious about sharing how she feels because she doesn’t want to upset her friends and family.

Kelsey’s ITVBe documentary comes after she appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to discuss her battle with loneliness and grief.

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The influencer admitted that she didn’t understand grief until she experienced it for herself, while revealing that she feels “guilty” about still being alive.

“You could be in a room full of people and still feel lonely. Because people don’t understand how I feel. It’s really hard for my friends and family, because they can’t imagine how I actually feel,” Kelsey said.

“Christmas is going to be so tough for me this year. Last year Aurelia did understand the Christmas process and this year she’s a year older.

“Tom’s not going to be there this year. We’re not going to wake up on Christmas morning together as a family. It’s going to be me and the kids.”

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Kelsey Parker reflected on the loss of her late husband Tom (Getty Images)Kelsey Parker reflected on the loss of her late husband Tom (Getty Images)
Kelsey Parker reflected on the loss of her late husband Tom (Getty Images) | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

She added: “I think the grief ripples through the family. It’s not just me, it’s Tom’s parents, Tom’s brother, it’s my family. It’s the ripple effect and how grief affects us all so differently.”

Kelsey recently explained to The Sun’s Fabulous magazine how people avoid talking to her because they aren’t sure how to talk about grief.

She said: “In the UK, we don’t talk about grief. We don’t talk about death. It’s a taboo subject. Even when I see people, they don’t really want to talk to me about it.

“Honestly, people cross the road so they don’t have to talk to me. It’s crazy. People don’t know what to say.”

“I just want to talk to people and be normal and continue my life, but that’s harder for me when people don’t want to talk to me,” Kelsey added.

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