TV presenter Simon Thomas has been spotted looking happy while out-and-about with his new girlfriend Derrina Jebb. The photos of the pair come after Simon's wife Gemma tragically died in 2017 following a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. Simon and Derrina enjoyed a day together at Cheltenham Festival on Friday, as they braved the wind and rain. The pair started dating last year, but this was the first time that they were photographed together.
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Speaking about his new romance in 2018, Simon told Anna Foster on Radio 5 Live: "I'm very aware she was someone I didn't know before and have got to know over the last few weeks and months." He continued: "Right from the early stages – she had this empathy towards me. She's Christian as well and that's important to me as a man of faith. She's been an incredible support for me. She was the only person who would always pick up the phone. What I saw in her, I saw in Gemma. When she said my phone is always on, she meant it."
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Simon married Gemma in 2005 and they had a son together, Ethan, who is now nine years old. Opening up about moving on after his grief, Simon continued: "I don't think you ever really do move on from what’s happened. That hole that a loved one leaves doesn’t shrink over time. Life begins to grow around it. You begin to deal with some of the challenges grief throws up, being a single parent throws up. I've got two choices. Give up – I can't do that, I don’t want to do that, I’ve got a boy to bring up, I promised Gemma. The only other choice then is you walk. Right from the start I felt, I’ve got to find life again."
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