Wife's death was biggest test of faith for TV star Simon

Norfolk-raised TV presenter Simon Thomas has said that losing his wife Gemma to cancer in November was the biggest test his Christian faith has ever had.

Simon told BBC Breakfast that telling his eight-year-old son Ethan about his mother was “the most crushing, brutal thing you will ever have to say to anyone.

“I think, as the weeks have gone on, the reality of daily life, of mum not being around, has begun to hit home.”

In the interview on May 23 Simon discussed the testing of his Christian faith.

 “If I take God out of the equation, the faith that I’ve had throughout my life, then the hope disappears because the hope is that one day I see Gemma again. In my limited experience so far, you cannot get through this and not be changed.

“The only question is what kind of person are you going to develop into and my hope in this - and hope is at the centre of how I try and deal with it - is I will try and come out a better person.”

People in the UK find it difficult to talk about grief, said Simon: “I just think so often in life we want to present that strong front, but I’ve learned in the short time I’ve been going through this is we don’t like talking about grief in this country.

“We are not a society that does grief very well, but you know what? What I have begun to understand is that people do want to talk, they just need permission to talk.”

Now Simon has been nominated for the celebrity dad of the year prize along with Prince William, Simon Cowell, David Walliams, Rio Ferdinand and Liam Payne. The winner will be announced in June.

Read our previous story on this topic.

Pictured above, Simon Thomas speaking at Soul Church in Norwich recently.