Jack Tweed has said he does not go a day without thinking about Jade Goody as he remembered the reality star on the anniversary of her death.
The former Big Brother star died of cervical cancer on Mother’s Day in 2009 at the age of 27.
Jack and Jade got married just weeks before her death in an emotional ceremony.
Jack wrote on Instagram: “Nine years ago today Jade left us. Not a day goes I don’t think of her smile.”
Read more: Jeff Brazier reveals why Jade Goody didn’t get help for cervical cancer until too late
Jade is survived by her sons Bobby, 14, and Freddie, 13, with her ex-boyfriend Jeff Brazier.
The boys were aged just five and four at the time of her death.
Jeff has talked about how they broke the news of Jade’s terminal illness to their sons, telling ITV’s Loose Women: “Obviously it was Jade that had to tell them she wasn’t going to be around any longer.
“Can you imagine anything harder and more unfair than that? But she did a very courageous job of telling them that she was being sent for by God to do a job for him and was going to become a very bright star and they would see her in the sky. That was what felt right to her at the time.”
Talking about telling them that Jade had died, he said: “All day I was thinking when is the right time to give them the most impossible news you’ll ever have to give anyone.
“Jade maybe took care of that one because at bedtime we went outside and there was one very bright star in the sky and they saw it and I think knew themselves.”
Jeff has frequently spoken about how he keeps Jade’s memory alive for their sons, but has said, ultimately, he just wishes that Jade were alive to watch her sons grow up.
He told The Victoria Derbyshire Show: “As much as I try and be the all and everything to them, I can never replace mum.
“It’s a sense of identity they lose. You find a lot of who you are in life through who your mum and dad is, and they have one who is present and still there and trying to get as much right as he can, and obviously they have lost that big character who was their mum and would give them twice as much unconditional love as they receive.”
Referring to how Jade had avoided having a smear test that could have detected her cervical cancer earlier, he said: “It’s hard on the kids and when you know it’s avoidable, it’s hard not to sit there and feel regret at times.
“Regret for a decision that wasn’t made or a decision that ultimately could have been made better.”
Since Jade’s death, Jeff has worked to raise awareness on the symptoms of cancer and regular check-ups at the doctor.
He’s also trained as a life coach and bereavement counsellor, using his own experiences to help other people in similar situations.
Jeff released a book last year called The Grief Survival Guide: How to navigate loss and all that comes with it.
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