'She's lost her spark': Sir Tom Jones reveals reclusive wife's battle with depression but insists their marriage is 'solid' after 58 years

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For half a century she has endured living in the limelight of her superstar husband’s career – and his numerous affairs.

So perhaps it is no surprise that, according to Sir Tom Jones, his wife Linda has ‘lost her spark’.

The Welsh singer, 75, insisted that their 58-year marriage remains ‘solid’.

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Tom Jones has says he doesn't regret cheating on his wife of 58 years Linda, pictured together in 1965, as he 'never hurt anybody' and their marriage is 'solid'

Tom Jones insisted that his marriage to wife Linda is solid. The couple pictures in Los Angeles, California, last year

Sex god superstar Tom's infidelities have been well-documented since he shot to fame in the 1960s. He once claimed to have slept with 250 per year during his lothario period

But, speaking ahead of the release of his autobiography this week, he admitted that while he loved the spotlight Linda, also 75, had always preferred being at home and has become increasingly reclusive in recent years.

His book reveals that at their Los Angeles home Linda has retreated into herself, smoking heavily and doing so away from others to avoid filling their living rooms with cigarette fumes.

She has developed emphysema, has had cancer scares, and has become increasingly immobile, prompting Sir Tom to install a stair-lift in their home.

‘I’ve realised she’s had a depression since she was young,’ he told the Sunday Times Magazine. ‘She’s always had a touch of it.’

He added: ‘I don’t think she really enjoyed getting out and about, and I think she was happy with being in the house.’

Despite his frequent infidelity during their marriage, Sir Tom said Linda had snapped on only one occasion, after discovering his affair with former Miss World Marjorie Wallace in 1976.

Tom and Linda have one child together, son Mark, pictured together at Heathrow Airport before leaving for America 

Tom Jones is snapped kissing Miss World winner Marjorie Wallace during their fling in the mid-1970s

Tom Jones pictured holding hands with a bikini clad Marjorie Wallace in Barbados in July 1976

He said: ‘I stood there and took it. She chinned me. When she let fly, Dai [his then minder] just left. I said, “Go ahead”. She punched and shouted.’

Sir Tom said that these days, while he takes pride in his appearance and buys expensive clothing, Linda has aged from the beauty she once was. ‘Linda is the love of my life, and she still is, even though she doesn’t look like she did. I don’t look like I did either, but I try my best. She’s lost her spark.’

But he said that when phoning each other they have the chemistry they had as youngsters. The couple married at 16, and Sir Tom said he has loved Linda since the age of 12.

Philandering Tom admits that wife Linda 'lost it' when she found out about his romp with the pageant winner and beat him up at their family home in Los Angeles, pictured together in 1965

He said: ‘When you’re face to face with somebody, you realise that time has gone on, but when you’re on the phone we’re both young again. We haven’t aged on the phone. You’re not looking at one another, I’m looking at an old picture I carry around with me and leave by the bed. She says, “I don’t look like that any more”.

‘I say, “I know you don’t, it brings back wonderful memories”.

‘When we are on the phone, the whole thing, the depression, leaves her when we talk ... She is an unbelievable woman. She’s the most important thing in my life. All the rest is just fun and games.’

Sir Tom’s book, Over The Top And Back: The Autobiography, is released on Thursday. 

Tom's high-profile dalliances included bedding Mary Wilson of the Supremes, TV host Charlotte Laws and one-time Miss World Marjorie Williams, pictured in 1975

Tom added that Linda is the 'most important thing' in his life while everything else is 'fun and games', pictured together in 1967

Tom previously told Metro how Linda is a 'quiet' person who has always shunned the party lifestyle. 

He said: 'I don’t have parties at my house. My wife is a very quiet person and she gets very nervous if anybody shows up. 

'Like Robbie Williams showed up the other day and my wife stayed in the bedroom. Even though she knows him.' 

Despite their troubles over the years, Tom told Daily Mail that they have stayed together because they share the 'same sense of humour'. 

He said: 'We grew up together, come from the same place, have the same sense of humour. That has a lot to do with it. How do you walk away from somebody that you get along so well with? What’s the point?

‘And we do still have a lot of laughs together. The first thing my wife asks me when I get home is: “Have you heard any good jokes lately?”’  

Despite their troubles over the years, Tom said that the pair have stayed together because they share the 'same sense of humour', pictured together in 1965

Revealing what he does with the thousands of pants that get chucked his way, Tom said: 'I dab my brow with them and then I say, "You want to watch you don't catch a cold"'

Meanwhile, Tom also spoke to The Sunday Times Magazine as life as a global sex symbol.  

He was just 24 years old when he released smash-hit Not Unusual and girls were flinging themselves at him. 

He recalled one incident while sitting on a service station toilet when girls tried to crawl over the cubicle wall to get to him

In 1969, while in America, a woman in a restaurant 'flips her dress up, steps out of her knickers and hands them up to me.'

Revealing what he does with the thousands of pants that get chucked his way, he added: 'I dab my brow with them and then I say, "You want to watch you don't catch a cold".'