Tom Jones's Estranged Son Was Homeless & Slept In Shelter Despite Father’s Multi-Million Fortune

Nov 23, 2021 by apost team

Sir Tom Jones is an iconic Welsh singer that has been showing off his incredible vocal abilities since the mid-1960s. With songs such as "It's Not Unusual," "Delilah," and "She's A Lady," many have grown to love and adore Jones and his beautiful talent in the musical department. His voice is rich and deep, making for the perfect baritone sound as he has sung about love and heartbreak over his many years in the music industry.

Along with his illustrious career in the music industry, Jones has also shown off his talents as an actor and was the host of his own television series called "This Is Tom Jones." His outstanding contributions to the arts even led to him being knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005. Jones has recently been making waves in the industry once again for his participation as a judge on "The Voice UK," a competition series that he has been on since 2012, with the exception of the year 2016.

During his long career, Jones also managed to find love and was married to Melinda Rose Trenchard — better known as Linda — from March 2, 1957, until her death on April 10, 2016. Despite their long marriage, there were many difficulties along the way. Their main obstacle was Jones' alleged infidelity, which was eventually proven one day in court after a paternity test was ordered on behalf of Katherine Berkery, a model that Jones had a brief fling with in the late 1980s.

Keep reading to find out more about Jones and why his son, Jonathan Jones Berkery, was homeless and had to sing on the streets to make money despite being proven to be Jones' child.

In 2016, Linda lost her battle with lung cancer and passed away. Jones opened up about how hard it was to grieve the loss. "When my wife passed away — God bless her — I didn't know whether I would make it," he said, as per Hello Magazine. "There were days when I felt I couldn't get up, you don't want to get out of bed to start with." 

Prior to her death, Jones had talked about how much they loved each other, despite rumors that he had been having affairs during their marriage. "(The affairs were) never discussed, I was never put on the spot," he said. "Linda is a wonderful person and she would never put me on the spot. She loves being married to me and I love being married to her."

While he may not have discussed the affairs with his wife, they were thoroughly covered by the media. Mary Wilson, of The Supremes, also spoke of having a two-year relationship with Jones in her biography "Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme," which was released in 1986. She said that their relationship ended after Jones refused to leave his wife. Wilson was heartbroken and said she always felt love towards Jones even after the relationship ended.

It is also said that Jones had an affair with Marjorie Wallace in 1976 after they were seen kissing on a beach in Barbados. Wallace's relationship with Jones is among the many groupies and models Jones came across while touring the world. One of these models was Katherine Berkery, who claimed to have given birth to Jones' son in June 1988. Jones denied this until a court-ordered paternity test was issued and proved that Jonathan Jones Berkery was, in fact, his child.

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In 1989, after the judge ordered that Jones was the father of Jonathan and required to pay child support, Katharine began crying and reportedly said to her then 1-year-old son, "Now, you have a father." Unfortunately, Jones was not the kind of father that Jonathan needed. He repeatedly denied Jonathan was his son despite it being proven in court. The music icon paid the child support for all 18 years but never once spoke to his son.

Jones rarely spoke about Jonathan at all, until 2008 when he said about the birth of his child, "It wasn't something I had planned. If I had planned it, I would have done something more than just financially. But it wasn't...I was tricked, really. I just fell for it." The singer added, "I just fell for the seduction."

Jonathan, who had always grown up knowing that Jones is his father, longed for a relationship with him. After hearing those words in 2008, Jonathan was deeply affected. "Those words hurt. It wasn't my choice to be born. You don't get to be as famous as my father without being prepared to hurt people along the way," he said in response.

After growing up without a father figure, Jonathan had a hard time in life. He ended up living in a homeless shelter as an adult, with only a part-time job stacking shelves. He also made money by singing his father's songs on the street with a sign that read, "I need money, please help." He shared, "Not having a father growing up was tough. All I ever wanted was his love. People think I look and sound like a younger version of my dad. I sing all his songs. People stop and stare as soon as I start singing."

What do you think of the way Tom Jones treated his son? Let us know your opinion, and be sure to send this along to your friends and family.