Entertainment

Vinnie Jones says he still speaks to late wife Tanya ‘every day’

Tanya was 53 when she died in July following a years-long battle with cancer.
Tanya was 53 when she died in July following a years-long battle with cancer. Tanya was 53 when she died in July following a years-long battle with cancer.

Vinnie Jones has said he speaks to his late wife every day as he comes to terms with her death.

Tanya Jones, the footballer-turned-actor’s wife of 25 years, was 53 when she died in July following a years-long battle with cancer.

In an interview with The Sun, Jones, who is taking part in The X Factor: Celebrity in order to pay tribute to Tanya, revealed how he copes with her loss.

Vinnie Jones interview
Vinnie Jones interview Vinnie Jones has opened up on the death of his wife, Tanya (Myung Jung Kim/PA)

He told the newspaper: “I talk to her all of the time. Constantly, every day.

“We have a little chat when I’m making my bed. This morning I went, ‘There you go babe, look’, and it wasn’t my best bed making, so I re-did it.”

Tanya died at the family home in July after being diagnosed with melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, in 2013.

Jones had also been diagnosed with the illness but later got the all-clear.

Following his wife’s death, Jones has sold their LA home, saying it would be too difficult to live there without Tanya.

He has now bought the property next door, where 32-year-old Kayley, Tanya’s daughter from a previous relationship, lives.

Jones, who famously had a reputation as a hard man while playing for  Wimbledon during his football career, also revealed Tanya’s dog had recently died.

“Tanya’s little dog Gypsy passed away last week,” he said. “Kayley phoned me at 3am to tell me.

“That dog never left her side. He was about 10. But we take a positive view — he’s with Tanya now. It’s incredible how he died so close to her.”