Soccer Saturday star, Simon Thomas, lost his wife, Gemma, to blood cancer in 2017 just three days after the mum-of-one was diagnosed with adult acute myeloid leukemia
11:25, 28 Apr 2026Updated 11:25, 28 Apr 2026
Sky star, Simon Thomas, has made a heartbreaking confession nine years after his wife’s death(Image: Simon Thomas/Instagram)
Sky star, Simon Thomas, has made a heartbreaking confession nine years after his wife’s death. The popular presenter lost mum-of-one, Gemma, 40, to blood cancer in 2017 just three days after after she was diagnosed with adult acute myeloid leukemia.
Simon, 53, and his son, Ethan, 16, were left bereft after their loss, with the presenter previously admitting he turned to alcohol as a crutch, buying a bottle of vodka every day to help him cope. However, Simon has now revealed that Ethan, who was only eight when his mum died, discovered his father’s alcohol addiction while they were both still grieving, as he opened up about his “shame”.
Soccer Saturday star, Simon Thomas, lost his wife, Gemma, to blood cancer in 2017
During an appearance on Matt Willis’ On The Mend podcast this week he revealed the ways he’d try to hide alcohol and how he’d ‘hurt’ his son by exposing him to things he wishes the youngster ‘had never seen’.
Simon said: “He began to cotton on as the months went on. The reason why Daddy would never let him have a sip of his Diet Coke in the evenings wasn’t because it had caffeine in.
“Well, it was partly that, ‘it’s not great for your bedtime, Ethan’ but it’s because Dad had something in there he shouldn’t and I’ve left him with all those memories and that’s… that’s probably, in terms of my recovery from all of that period, almost been harder than letting go of the alcohol. It’s been letting go of the shame.”
Three years ago, Simon revealed that “God” had brought love back into his life with partner, Derrina. The couple are now parents to daughter, Talitha, three, and son, Theo, two.
Simon has praised wife, Derrina, for being a ‘wonderful stepmum'(Image: DAILY MIRROR)
The presenter with his son(Image: Simon Thomas/Instagram)
However, Gemma’s death hit Simon “like an earthquake” as he recalled: “We went from Monday night with her being diagnosed with a blood cancer of some sort. For a couple of days, things were looking OK the treatment was going well but then things just cartwheeled out of control.”
He continued: “On the Friday she falls unconscious and by 8.30 on Friday morning I’m being told by a consultant ‘she’s not going to see out the day’.
“The very foundations on which your life has been built are trembling, there’s a massive life earthquake going on. And by 5.45pm on that Friday in November 2017 at the age of 40, with an eight-year-old son and a husband, she’s gone.”
In 2024, Simon praised his then pregnant partner, Derrina, after she helped him through the grief of losing Gemma. Praising her as a wonderful stepmother, who loved his son Ethan “like her own”, he told The Sun: “Without a doubt, [Derrina] is the reason Ethan is on a level footing.”
* If you are struggling with alcohol abuse or addiction, advice and support can be found at alcoholchange.org.uk
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