Martin and Shirlie Kemp have revealed the extent of the Spandau Ballet star’s brain cancer hell – admitting the pair had kept the worst of the diagnosis from the public.
Popstar Martin was discovered to have two brain tumours back in 1995, and had to take time away from the spotlight in order to get them removed.
Shirlie, who has been married to Martin since 1988, has now said she worried for her husband’s life constantly throughout that period, and feared he couldn’t be saved.
Speaking on This Morning, Shirlie admitted: ‘We kind of hid how bad Martin was, and I think one of the hardest things, mentally, was knowing that he had this huge brain tumour and this huge operation where they removed his skull, put in titanium plates on his head, but he had another tumour as well that we had to fight for the next one.
‘So as much as people were coming up to me saying “you must be so relieved, he’s gone through the operation!” all I could think of was “No. This is hell, he has another brain tumour that is inoperable and we don’t know what they’re going to do save him.” So yeah, it’s hard.’
Thankfully, Martin recovered, and afer extensive therapy to get back to some level of normality, he started working again in 1998.
But the lessen of not taking life for granted is something Martin wants to now pass on – especially to his children Roman, 27, and Harley, 31.
He added: ‘You never really know what’s around the corner, because life was so good, everything was on the up for me, throughout all of my life. From Spandau to working in the States, acting and all that stuff.
‘All of a sudden they came crashing down, and within four or five years, our life was just on the floor, and it was us whether or not we could make it work, and to start the incline again.’
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
