The singer and his wife Tina separated last year and she has spoken about how the aftermath of their split affected her and her struggles during their marriage
Tommy Fleming with wife Tina and daughter Becky(Image: Kate Nolan)
Tina Mitchell has opened up about her marriage to singer Tommy Fleming, after they separated last year and he came out as gay last week.
Earlier this month, Tina issued a statement to confirm her 20-year marriage to Tommy ended last October. She has also stepped down as his manager.
In an explosive interview with Newstalk last week, Tommy admitted he was gay and had strayed in their marriage.
Now, Tina has said she regrets ever meeting him.
“It doesn’t matter whether he was bisexual, straight, gay or whatever he was when he met me — he knew, so he should not have married me,” she said.
“He shouldn’t have stolen 24 years of my life. I regret ever meeting him. I regret the 24 years that I’ve wasted. I could have been in a completely different situation in my life.
“I regret all of the decisions I’ve made, all of them that have a huge impact for the rest of my days on all of us. I regret putting my best years into excelling his career. I should have been looking at retirement and planning for that, and I have nothing now.”
Speaking to the Sunday Independent, she admitted she had her suspicions during their marriage that he wasn’t being faithful.
“I knew something wasn’t right and I suspected he was having an affair. I just knew by his behaviour. He was on the phone a lot…” she said of the early days of their relationship. She continued to say that there were various times throughout their marriage that she suspected he was cheating on her.
Things came to a head last September, when after a row with Tina, her daughter Rebecca asked Tommy if he was gay, to which he replied he may be bisexual.
“He arrived back here the following day and said we needed to talk,” said Tina. “I said: ‘There’s no talking, we’re done, please leave.’ He said: ‘This is all a mistake, this is a complete misunderstanding, and I’m not going to be put down for something I did not do.’”
He went on to attempt to take his own life, and subsequently was admitted to St Patrick’s Hospital.
A phone conversation with Tina and Rebecca from his time in hospital has been leaked, and Tina admitted she had recorded it as she confronted him after seeing his Google search history.
“I thought I was in the middle of a breakdown. I thought my head was going to explode,” she said. “My heart was thumping in my chest. I couldn’t eat. I was getting up every morning after not sleeping any night, violently ill. I couldn’t keep food in me. I couldn’t function. I couldn’t have a conversation or go outside the door. I was completely traumatised.”
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