Tom Jones’ wife, Melinda, was the love of his life and the pair were childhood sweethearts – but the singer had hundreds of affairs, including with Miss World contestant Marjorie Wallace
Julia Banim Audience Writer and Jane Lavender
12:21, 28 Oct 2025
Tom Jones and his wife Linda(Image: Getty)
Tom Jones has had many women in his life, but none more treasured than his late wife, Melinda.
Sir Tom and Melinda Rose Woodward, affectionately known as Linda, first crossed paths when they were just eight years old. In his 2015 autobiography, Over the Top and Back, the Welsh crooner reminisces about how she used to play marbles on the pavement.
During a subsequent two-year battle with tuberculosis, a bedridden Tom fell head over heels for his future wife, who would beam at him as she strolled to school in their hometown of Treforest, South Glamorgan. The then 12-year-old was utterly besotted.
At the tender age of 15, Tom, now 84, mustered up the courage to ask Linda out. Two years on, they tied the knot, and soon after welcomed their firstborn, Mark.
Tom frequently spoke with reverence about his wife, whom he always insisted was the ‘love of his life’. However, he also confessed to having hundreds of affairs – including one with Miss World contestant Marjorie Wallace, reports the Mirror.
Tom and his wife Melinda in 1967(Image: Popperfoto via Getty Images)
When Linda succumbed to a ‘short but fierce battle’ with cancer in 2016, the It’s Not Unusual singer was deeply affected by the loss, and vowed to honour her final heart-wrenching wish….
In a 2020 interview with BBC Radio 2, Tom chatted with host Jo Whiley about his new album which begins with the track, I Won’t Crumble When You Fall, inspired by one of his last conversations with his lifelong sweetheart.
Tom remembered how Linda had remained ‘the calmest person in the room’ throughout her final days, whilst he and his son acted like ‘gibbering idiots’. She had one final piece of wisdom to impart before her passing.
Revealing the poignant meaning behind his opening track, Tom explained: “Myself and my son [Mark], we spent the last 10 days with her in the hospital in Los Angeles. I said, ‘Look Lin,’ and she said, ‘What do you think you’ll do with yourself now?’ I said, ‘I don’t know whether I’ll be able to bloody sing, the words are going to get stuck in my throat’.
Linda died of cancer in 2016(Image: Topix – Thomson Newspaper Group)
“She said, ‘You’ve got to. You can’t fall with me. I’ve got to leave but you don’t have to. Don’t crumble’. So when I heard the song I thought, ‘My God that’s it. I’ll do anything for you.”
He added: “I’ll do anything for you. In the morning, when you call, in the morning I’ll wake when you call. I’ll do anything for you. But I won’t crumble with you when you fall’. She said, ‘You can’t crumble’ so that’s really for her.”
The pair had been wed for 59 years, and initially, Tom questioned whether he could continue performing whilst grappling with his overwhelming grief. He persisted nonetheless, later acknowledging in a Facebook post that singing ‘really is my best therapy’.
The legendary performer sought bereavement counselling and returned to performing just months afterwards, exactly as Linda had wished.
