Inside Tom Jones' life - broken marriage, A-list affairs and fat-shaming row

dailystar.co.uk:

Tom Jones has had a long and successful career that has spanned decades.The legendary singer rose to prominence in the mid-1960s when he had several top 10 hits, including the smash hit It's Not Unusual which soared to No1.Despite being married to Melinda Rose Woodard from 1957 up until her death, the singer had countless affairs with a string of notable names.His career by no means slowed down when he got older as he became a judge on BBC singing competition The Voice in 2012.In 2017 however, the singer was embroiled in a fat-shaming row with the winner of the first season, Leanne Mitchell.In honour of his 82nd birthday, Daily Star have looked into the controversial aspects of the Grammy-award winner's life.Tom married his childhood sweetheart Melinda (Linda) in 1957 when he was just 16 years old.Just a few months later, the couple welcomed their first and only child, Mark, and were enjoying a blissful married life.Things began to change, however, when the Sex Bomb singer burst onto the music scene aged 24.As her husband's career skyrocketed, Linda is said to have confided in a friend that she “never felt good enough" to be Tom’s wife.Throughout their 59-year-long marriage, the pair spent significant portions of it apart from one and other.While her husband toured the world and was gaining plenty of female recognition, Linda remained at their home in Beverly Hills looking after their son.

Linda remained away from the spotlight, rarely watching her husbands concerts and chose not to accompany him when he received his OBE in 1998.Sean Smith, Tom's biographer stated that while the couple had been married for more than five decades, they had likely spent only one in each other's company.Linda lost her "short but fierce".