Roman Kemp says he’s ‘scared’ as he opens up on dad Martin’s two brain tumours
ROMAN Kemp has admitted he’s ‘scared’ while opening up about his dad Martin’s brain tumour ordeal.
In the 90s, Spandau Ballet star Martin, 62, was diagnosed with two benign brain tumours that required major surgery and pioneering radiation treatment to be removed.
The singer revealed last week that he might only have another decade left to live – an admission that shocked his fans.
Now, Roman has spoken about it all for Children in Need’s Heaviest Backpack campaign, which aired on The One Show yesterday.
The former Capital presenter looked through childhood photos as he heartbreakingly told viewers about his suicidal thoughts as a result of his dad’s health issues.
He said: “These pictures are always quite precious to me because my dad is in full recovery here for the two brain tumours he had. I always look at these pictures and think about how scary it is that they might never have existed.”
“I look at this and I kind of think this was a great time because this was the last time I didn’t have any worries in my life.
“I physically couldn’t come down and say hello, and it sounds ridiculous, but your body pushes you into such a mode that you can’t even look up.
“Every time I woke up, it felt like a cloud was over me. Everything in my world was negative, and it was constantly negative, but I was living this life of luxury and privilege.
“Those thoughts of, ‘I don’t want to see anyone anymore,’ turned into thoughts of, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore.’
“It’s when those thoughts started coming in, I was so lucky I had my mum to explain those thoughts to.”
Fortunately, almost 30 years later, Martin is still here and no less content with his lot in life.
Despite his optimism, in his recent podcast with Roman, FFS! My Dad Is Martin Kemp, the bass player spoke about all things death.
When Roman asked his dad how long he thinks he’ll live, Martin replied: “I’ll be really honest with you, 10 years.
“I don’t know how long I’ve got left but I will tell you, since I was the age of 34, when I went through all of that brain tumour scare, I spent two years of my life thinking I was going to die.
“And I think, after that, everything else, every day, every year, every month that I’ve lived, every experience that I’ve had has been a bonus.”
He continued: “I was practically resigned to the fact that I was going to die, but I was quite happy with my lot, because I had lived the most incredible experiences.’
“By the time I was 34 and I thought I was going to die, I spent two years thinking about it, I was quite happy, I thought: ‘If I go, do you know what? What a life’ and that was back then. So, every year that I live, every month that I’m alive now is like a bonus.”
The candid conversation also saw Martin share his funeral plans with Roman.
He revealed he only wants 20-30 people in attendance and would like a montage of his life highlights played for them.
Sharing his most important rule, he said: “Do not make it sad. That’s the last thing I would ever want. None of those standard hymns that people sing over and cry. None of that.
“I want people to walk out thinking ‘what a life’.”
Martin said he’d want his coffin carried into the crematorium to Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen, though he wasn’t sure on his song choice as the curtain closes. However, he did rule out any Spandau Ballet.
The Gold hitmaker had a career resurgence in 1998 when he joined EastEnders as smooth nightclub owner Steve Owen.
While he proved to be one of the decade’s most memorable soap villains with stellar performances, behind the scenes he struggled to learn lines and control his movements.
Not only did he have to relearn how to use his body but his brain surgery also left him with controlled epilepsy.
