Katherine Jenkins broke down in tears during her BBC festive concert special. The emotional segment came while the star was visiting a hospice where her father received his end-of-life care.
The singer’s dad, Selwyn Jenkins, suffered from lung cancer and died at the age of 70 in 1995 when Kathrine, 43, was just 15. Opening up about the ordeal during Christmas with Katherine Jenkins, the mezzo-soprano explained that she hadn’t been to Ty Olwen hospice near Swansea for 28 years.
Explaining the reason behind her visit to the palliative care unit, Katherine began: “Ill health will often mean that someone is away from their family over Christmas. And of course that means that carers, nurses, and doctors need to look after them and be away from their families too.
“So I’ve come to meet some of the amazing people that work at Ty Olwen today,” she added before heading into the building. The mother-of-two was greeted by various carers before explaining that she was once a regular on the ward.
After being guided to where her father would have spent the last of his days, the Welsh star started to tear up and said: “He was in a single room because it was me, mum and Laura, that were sleeping in there with him.”
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Fighting back tears in front of the three women, Katherine pointed to a kitchen behind her where she remembered “making toast” while staying with Selwyn.
She was then invited into the kitchen where she emotionally turned away from the camera and wiped her eyes.
After viewing the heartbreaking segment, one social media user took to X and wrote: “That’s me done for. Katherine Jenkins going to the hospice her dad died in when she was a child.”
Another commented: “Ok #katherinejenkins visiting the hospice on her Christmas show is going to make me cry.”
Following the conclusion of Katherine’s visit to the hospital, the BBC programme cut back to Swansea Arena where the Neath native was wearing a stunning white ballgown.
Addressing the crowd, she said: “Well, like me, there will be some of you with an empty chair at the table this year.
“And this song helped me a lot, and is dedicated to any of you who may be missing a loved one at Christmas. So here is ‘Jealous of the Angels’.”
Christmas with Katherine Jenkins is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.