Simon Thomas and Steve Bland appeared on This Morning to talk about dealing with grief, following the tragic recent deaths of their wives. Simon - whose wife Gemma sadly died of cancer in 2017 - opened up about his nine-year-old son Ethan. The former Sky Sports presenter revealed that he leaves notes in Ethan's lunchbox everyday, adding: "What has been really hard for him that the everyday memories of mum are starting to fade." He continued: "Nearly sixteen months later the memories of mum are fading." The 47-year-old admitted that he left the lunchbox notes because Ethan had forgotten that his mum used to pack his lunches for him. But, once he stopped writing them, his son told him: "Now I want them more than ever."
READ: Simon Thomas' first appearance with new girlfriend following wife's tragic death in 2017
Simon and his son Ethan
Steve also opened up about his own son, three-year-old Freddy, who lost his mum BBC 5 Live presenter Rachael Bland last September after her battle with breast cancer. Steve said: "He understands that mummy has gone... but I think he thinks 'died' is a place." Speaking about his son on Lorraine just last month, Steve also said: "He still talks about Rachel in the present tense. His grief will come and go. Probably when he is four, five or six, we can see how it's really affecting him but right now he is a really happy little boy."
READ: The heartbreaking way Rachael Bland's son refers to late mum months after her death
Steve with Rachael and their son Freddy
Last week, Simon was spotted looking happy with his new girlfriend Derrina Jebb. Opening up about moving on during a Loose Women interview last year, he said: "You have to try and find some kind of life again. When people go through something like this you can give up on life... I just want to be happy again.'
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