Bodhi Thomas Paris Parker is the son of Tom Parker and Kelsey Hardwick, born in October 2020. His parents describe him as ‘the light at the end of our tunnel’ during Tom’s battle with a terminal brain tumor. His name evokes the meaning of enlightenment, which perfectly reflects what Tom and Kelsey were going through during his birth. Bodhi also has an older sister, Aurelia Rose born in July 2019.
His father, Tom Parker
Parker was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. Since a young age, Parker was very interested in music, taking up his older brother’s guitar at age sixteen to teach himself to play. After many years of honing his craft, Parker auditioned for The X Factor in the hopes of launching a professional singing career; however, he was unsuccessful in progressing past the first round. Not wanting to give up on his dreams, Parker decided to pursue a formal education at Manchester Metropolitan University, studying Geography; nevertheless, he eventually dropped out to fully commit to his musical aspirations. He joined a Take That tribute band called Take That II and performed all around Northern England, before eventually joining the popular British-Irish band the Wanted in 2009.
In 2009, Jayne Collins held a mass audition to form a boy band, which eventually resulted in the formation of The Wanted. Thousands of hopefuls auditioned to compete for the five available spots – Nathan Sykes, Siva Kaneswaran, Max George, Jay McGuiness and Tom Parker. The group’s debut single, “All Time Low,” was released in July 2010 and became an instant success, topping the UK Singles Chart. Further hits, such as “Heart Vacancy,” “Glad You Came,” “Chasing the Sun,” and “I Found You,” cemented their success, and in 2013 starred in their own reality television series on E!, The Wanted Life, to increase their appeal for the American music market.
In January 2014, The Wanted announced their decision to break up, ending their 12 million record-selling career worldwide. Following the breakup, Parker turned to DJ’ing and collaborated with Richard Rawson on the track “Fireflies” which was released in August 2014. In May 2015 he participated in the UK version of Celebrity MasterChef and was eliminated during the semi-finals. In October 2015, he released his solo single “Undiscovered”. In February 2016, he was announced to be replacing Tina Hobley on the Channel 4 show The Jump and finished third in the series. In 2017, he put his wedding on hold to take on the role of Danny Zuko in the UK tour of Grease the musical.
On 12 October 2020, Tom Parker of the band The Wanted announced he had been diagnosed with inoperable grade 4 glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor. Despite remaining positive and having scans which showed the tumor had been significantly reduced, he later experienced a sudden decline in his condition. On 30 March 2022, Parker died of complications from glioblastoma at St Christopher’s Hospice in Bromley, London, at the age of 33. His bandmates, celebrities, and public figures paid tribute, including an episode of Pointless Celebrities which he and Max George had recorded the previous year which was brought forward in the schedules and dedicated to him. Parker’s funeral took place at St Francis of Assisi Church in Petts Wood on 20 April.