Kelsey Parker, the widow of The Wanted’s Tom Parker, has shared her advice for the family of One Direction star Liam Payne, two weeks after his tragic death
Kelsey Parker has extended her support to the grieving family of Liam Payne. The former One Direction star tragically died two weeks ago at the age of 31 after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The singer suffered multiple life-threatening injuries, including a skull fracture, leading to an “internal and external haemorrhage”. While investigators have ruled out any “third-party” involvement, they are still searching for his dealer amid rumors that someone from his hotel was supplying him with narcotics.
Kelsey, who lost her husband Tom Parker of The Wanted to brain cancer in 2022, shared some heartfelt advice with HELLO! magazine: “Liam’s family should just take each day as it comes and do what’s best for them as a family. If that is all sitting down together and crying, then you do that. But it is so tough and so hard.”
Kelsey shared a touching message to Liam’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy, urging her to make Liam “proud” amidst the tragedy. She revealed, “When your partner is taken from you, it feels cruel and you feel as though you’ve been robbed of your future. So all Liam’s girlfriend can do now is make him proud. If you told me when we lost Tom that I would be where I am now, I would never have believed it because you think: ‘Oh my God, this is the end. How am I going to cope? ‘ But you just have to ride the waves of grief and if it does knock you down, you’ve got try to get yourself up and build yourself back up again.”
Kelsey, who has faced her own loss with strength, believes that Tom’s legacy continues through his music with The Wanted and hopes Liam’s legacy will comfort those he left behind, including his young son Bear (with former partner Cheryl Tweedy).
Drawing on personal insight, Kelsey shares that Tom’s accomplishments with The Wanted provide her with stories to tell their children, Aurelia, five, and Bodhi, four. She notes that while she cannot speak for Liam’s family, reflecting on Tom’s life and impact offers her solace.
Kelsey added that through Tom’s legacy, she has stories to share about how he touched lives.
Throughout their career, The Wanted received numerous award nominations, including Best British Single at the 2010 BRIT Awards for their debut track, All Time Low. They also bagged several awards such as a People’s Choice and Radio 1 Teen Awards.
The band found themselves nominated at prestigious events like the American Music Awards and MTV VMAs. Tom tragically passed away in March 2022 from brain cancer, after being diagnosed with an inoperable tumor in October 2020.
In 2021, he announced that his tumor was stable and he was able to join his bandmates Max George, Siva Kaneswaran, Jay McGuiness, and Nathan Sykes on select nights of their successful reunion tour. However, his health took a sudden turn for the worse, and despite undergoing chemotherapy and intensive treatments, he passed away with Kelsey by his side.
