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Tom Jones shared a lifelong bond with his wife, Linda, whom he married in 1957. Their marriage endured until 2016 when Linda succumbed to lung cancer. Despite nearly six decades of marriage to his childhood sweetheart, Jones was not without his share of romantic escapades. As he rose to fame in the 1970s, the Welsh singer not only captured the adoration of fans worldwide but also became known for his numerous romantic entanglements. Yet, Jones has often professed that Linda was his one and only true love.
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Even during the peak of his career, when his exploits were well-publicized, Jones maintained that he had never loved anyone else like he loved Linda. In a heartfelt revelation on “The Joe Wicks Podcast” in 2021, he confessed, “I’ll never love again.” After Linda’s passing, rumors swirled about a possible romance with Priscilla Presley, a longtime family friend. However, those close to Presley dispelled the speculation, with one insider humorously noting Jones’s flirtatious nature. “Tom does get naughty sometimes and jokes about romancing Priscilla, but she couldn’t,” the insider shared with Closer Weekly in 2019.
Jones has openly expressed his enduring grief over his wife’s absence, emphasizing his wish that they could have grown old together. “I’m glad we had our lives together, but I wish she was here now; we would be old together,” he reflected during his conversation with Joe Wicks. Since the 2010s, aside from the Priscilla rumors, Jones appears to have embraced solitude, a stark contrast to his youthful lifestyle.
During his nearly 60-year marriage to Linda, Jones was infamous for his numerous high-profile affairs. He was candid about his infidelities, famously claiming to sleep with 250 groupies annually. On tour, he would often request two dressing rooms to accommodate his social endeavors. Beyond fleeting encounters, Jones also engaged in several notable relationships.
One of the most renowned was his affair with Mary Wilson of The Supremes, which spanned from 1968 to 1970. This relationship came to an abrupt end when Linda confronted her husband. Despite the confrontation, Jones downplayed the seriousness of his dalliances. In 1991, he remarked, “I never had a serious affair,” as reported by Express. He asserted he never considered leaving Linda, saying, “It’s out of the question, so whatever has happened has always been casual.” However, for Wilson, the connection was significant. “I was in love with Tom Jones, I will say that, I cannot not say that because it is very true,” she admitted.
Tom Jones was involved in some high-profile affairs
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Throughout his 59-year marriage to Linda (seen above), Tom Jones was involved in numerous high-profile affairs. He didn’t pretend to be faithful, either. In his heyday, the Welsh singer boasted about sleeping with 250 groupies a year, even requesting two dressing rooms while on tour to have a dedicated space for the lady friends he made along the way. But beyond the one-night stands, Jones also racked up plenty of affairs.
Among the most notorious was his relationship with Mary Wilson of The Supremes between 1968 and 1970. The affair ended when Linda confronted — and threatened — her husband about it. In 1991, Jones played down the relationship. “[I] never had a serious affair,” he said (via Express). He added that he never considered leaving Linda. “It’s out of the question, so whatever has happened has always been causal,” he said. To Wilson, on the other hand, the affair had been real. “I was in love with Tom Jones, I will say that, I cannot not say that because it is very true,” she said.
Besides Wilson, Jones also had an affair with Marjorie Wallace, the first American to ever win Miss World in 1973, a title she later lost precisely because she had been caught with Jones while she was engaged to race car driver Peter Revson. Perhaps the affair with the most damning consequence was the one with American model Katherine Berkery in 1987, because it made him join the list of celebrities who had a love child with their mistresses. Linda stood by Jones through all of that and more, proving her endless loyalty to the singer.