Jeff Brazier: “We dedicate one day every month to Jade”
Jeff Brazier opens up to us about raising his two sons alone and shares the practical ways they have learned to cope with their grief
When his ex-partner Jade Goody died of cervical W cancer in 2009, Jeff Brazier took the decision to keep their two sons, then aged four and five, out of the public eye in an effort to give them a normal childhood.
REACHING OUT
The TV personality also removed the boys from the company of their stepfather, Jack Tweed, whom Jade started dating in 2006 and married in February 2009, just a month before she died at the age of 27. Jack had two convictions for assault and his partying lifestyle made for unsavoury headlines.
But Jeff tells Closer that in March he reunited sons Bobby, 14, and 12-year-old Freddy, with Jack, after running into him late last year. “I’d always had a lot of empathy for Jack, because I’d been through a lot of the same things myself,” says Jeff, 38, referring to tabloid intrusion and public criticism while in the spotlight. “I asked Jack if he’d be interested in seeing the boys and he was,” he continues. “I took them to Jack’s parents’ house and it was like eight years had evaporated. The boys felt really comfortable and I could see that, for Jack, it was as wonderful as it was difficult.” Jeff adds that he was thrilled when Jack gave the children some beautiful framed photographs of Jade.
Former reality star Jeff said he never originally kept Jack at arm’s-length to punish him, but merely to put his children’s best interests first.
“It was always about giving Jack the time and space to get whatever he needed to out of the way,” he says.
“Jack is priceless to me because of the invaluable memories he has of Jade, which the boys would love to add to their own. They’d always wondered how he was, but I waited to make sure he was settled.” SURVIVING GRIEF Jeff has earned plaudits for his dignified conduct since Jade’s death, shielding his boys from the limelight so they could grow up and grieve in private.
Three years ago, the former This Morning presenter trained as a life coach to add another string to his bow. As well as losing Jade, Jeff has lost both his maternal grandparents, an aunt and the biological father he never knew [Stephen Faldo, who was killed when the boat he was skipper of, The Marchioness, sank in 1989]. He’s just published his first book, The Grief Survival Guide: How To Navigate Loss And All That Comes With It, which explores his extensive experience of grief – and it’s packed full of advice. “The boys are still affected by their mother’s death, of course,” says Jeff. “At some point in life everyone throws up their hands and says: ‘Life is not going to plan,’ and
‘Jack’s memories of Jade are priceless’