Katherine Berkery: Her Three Day Fling With Tom Jones
(Image/ Source: express.co.uk)
Tom Jones’ liaison with Katherine Berkery is still fairly controversial. After meeting the aspiring model in a nightclub in New York in 1987, the pair had a three-day fling, which resulted in the birth of son Jonathan Berkery.
But the Welsh singer’s treatment of Katherine and their son has been distant to say the least.
Here’s the full story…
New York Fling
After meeting in New York, Tom Jones invited Katherine to watch his show the following night. The pair then had dinner together before heading back to his suite at Manhattan’s swish Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
Three months later, Katherine had discovered she was pregnant. She had no idea that Tom was married, and tried to get in touch with the singer multiple times to let him know the news.
After snubbing her calls, the model then phoned his office only to be told by an aide: ‘That’s showbiz, darling. Do what you have to do”.
At the time, Tom Jones openly admitted that he was sleeping with around 250 women a year at the height of his fame, despite having wife Linda at home, and denied that the child was his until a judge ordered him to take a DNA test.
(Image/ Source: thesun.co.uk)
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After Katherine Berkery had battled to prove her son was Tom’s, the singer was ordered to pay £1,700-a-month for Jon’s upkeep for the first 18 years of his life.
While Tom Jones agreed to pay the money, he made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with his son Jonathan.
In 2008, the Welsh singer opened up about his estranged son for the first time:
“It wasn’t something I had planned. If I had planned it, I would have done something more than just financially. But it wasn’t. I just fell for it. I just fell for the seduction.”
(Image/ Source: hellomagazine.com)
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In a separate interview with The Mirror in 2018, Jonathan said he was “really hurt” after Sir Tom said he had been “tricked” by his mother:
“In 2008 he [Tom] finally gave an interview acknowledging me but said my mother had tricked him. It wasn’t true and it really hurt.
“I got into drugs – cocaine and ecstasy. I was trying to numb the pain.”
Jonathan Berkery
Jonathan grew up with his mother in America, listening to tapes of his famous father’s music. When he asked his mother Katherine about where his dad was, she told him he was busy entertaining and that’s why he couldn’t be with them.
Jonathan Berkery, who also goes by the name Jon Jones, has struggled in his dad’s absence. The Welsh singer’s son became angry about Tom’s lack of contact, and soon became involved in drugs.
Jonathan then lost his job and apartment, and became homeless on and off for several years. He’d spent some time living in his car in Miami, and finally hit rock bottom.
Jonathan now sleeps in a New Jersey homeless shelter, and spends time busking to try and raise himself some cash.
(Image/ Source: mirror.co.uk)
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Despite his father being worth more than a whopping £155 million, Tom Jones still refuses to see or even acknowledge his son.
Jonathan told the Daily Mail:
“I do not want help with my career or anything like that. I just want to meet my father before it’s too late. I’d like to talk to him about normal stuff, like: ‘How’s your life been? This is mine.’
Life is too short to let the important things pass by”.
While Jonathan is still trying to turn his life around, he’s since been arrested for drug possession and has spent time in jail. But despite his battles, he still doesn’t give up hope that one day, his father might actually meet him.
