Sir Tom Jones, 78, was married to his wife Linda from 1957 until her death in 2016. The couple had one son, Mark, who is now 62. But Tom had another side to him, which saw him engage in numerous well-publicised infidelities and at the height of his fame, Sir Tom said he had sex with up to 250 fans a year.
One of these affairs – a three-day fling – lead to a son, who has spoken out about how he struggled with life as his father refused to accept his existence.
Jonathan Berkery, now 31, revealed how he became a gun-carrying drug dealer who slept rough because he was abandoned by Sir Tom.
He said he slept on park benches, in his car or homeless shelters for more than two years after he was befriended by a drug gang as a teenager.
And he blames Sir Tom, claiming: “It all stems back to my dad. I don’t think I realised it for a long time but I was one angry kid, crying out for a father.
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Tom Jones love child: The Welsh crooner has a dark past. (Image: Getty)
“I lost count of the times I changed schools. I needed a father figure. I leaned towards older bad guys.
“Sometimes I wanted to meet my father, sometimes I didn’t. It’s the same now – I am totally conflicted.”
Jonathan’s mother Katherine, who was a model, became pregnant at 24 and ended up taking Sir Tom to court.
She was handed £1,700 a month in child support after DNA tests revealed he was the father.
Tom Jones love child: Jonathan Berkery, now 31, revealed how he became a gun-carrying drug dealer (Image: NC)
However, although the Welsh singer has fulfilled his responsibilities financially, he has refused to provide the emotional support Jonathan craved growing up.
He said he never received a phone call or birthday card from Sir Tom and it ruined his life.
He said: “I was very angry. My anger boiled over in school – I fought every kid and rebelled constantly.”
Jonathan said he turned to drugs to help him cope with rejection from Sir Tom, and so began his downward spiral which led to him dealing and carrying guns.
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Tom Jones love child: Jonathan’s mother Katherine ended up taking Sir Tom to court (Image: Getty)
He said: “I tried to numb the pain with drugs – I’ve been smoking weed since I was 16 and I progressed to prescription pills, then ecstasy and cocaine.
“I was never a heavy drug user. I just dabbled. But when I was selling drugs I wasn’t really using.
“I bought two pistols. I called them The Brothers and wore them in shoulder holsters.”
He said he started living on the streets after his mother threw him out of the house. “Then a couple of years ago, after an arrest for drug possession, I discovered half-way hostels. I had drug counselling and lived in a shelter.”
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Tom Jones love child: Jonathan said he often fantasises about appearing on The Voice (Image: Getty)
Now he has moved back in with his estate agent mother in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is determined to carve out a career as a singer “to prove myself in spite of my father”.
Jonathan said he often fantasises about appearing on The Voice to force Tom Jones to recognise him.
He said: “I like to imagine that I am on the show singing, he swivels around in his big chair, realises I am his son and I just make a rude gesture at him with my middle finger.”
He added: “My feelings for him are conflicted – he is my biological father but he has never been a dad. I am not sure whether we could ever have a relationship now.”
The Voice is on ITV on Saturday at 8pm