Relative values: Keren Woodward and son Tom
Bananarama singer reveals she got pregnant at the height of the band's success when Venus was Number 1
Keren: I had no idea that I was pregnant. I just thought I was a bit run down. Didn’t fancy a beer, didn’t want to smoke, didn’t feel like partying… What’s going on? So off I went to the doctor and he said: “Ah, you’re pregnant.” “Pregnant! Oh God! What am I going to do? I can’t be pregnant. I haven’t got time. The diary’s full for the next 18 months… It couldn’t have happened at a more inconvenient time. It was at the height of the success Bananarama had in the States. We had a No 1 record, Venus, and I was pregnant — throwing up everywhere and sweating like a pig. And the rest of the girls were useless. They had no understanding of what was happening to my body. All they could say was: “Look, will you just throw up and stop moaning? Why don’t you come out to this party? You’ll feel a lot better.”
I totally went to pieces. Complete panic. Okay, I’m a woman, so technically I’m capable of being a mother, but I didn’t have the faintest idea of what to do. I was 25 and David (David-Scott Evans), Tom’s father, was 23 or 24. We were just a couple of bloody kids, the same age that Tom is now. The idea of him being a father is just scary. I lecture him almost every day: “Don’t you dare do what I did.”
But even though it had all been a bit of an accident, there was no question of me not going through with the pregnancy. Nothing to do with religion or anything like that. It’s just who I am. No, no, no, no, no! And, let’s face it, David and I were in a much better position than a lot of young parents. We had a nice home and a bit of money. We were comfortable.
The biggest problem was that I was the main breadwinner. If Mummy didn’t go off to Tokyo for two weeks, then Mummy didn’t get any money. Tom probably has no recollection of it, but he was dragged around the world a bit when he was a baby. He’d be there at the side of the stage waving at me, and I’d be trying to sing through my tears of joy. “Oh, look! There’s my boy.”
Tom probably doesn’t remember much about me and David splitting up, either. Actually, there’s not that much to remember. Tom was about two. David and I realised it wasn’t working, and David moved to the next street. He was still Tom’s dad and everybody still got on — we just weren’t together any more. We worried about the effect it would have on Tom, but equally we both felt it was a mistake to stay together “just for the kids”. What kid wants to grow up watching his parents not getting on? I look at Tom now and think: “Yes, we made the right decision.” He’s the most balanced and easy-going person I know.
I’ll be honest with you — those first couple of years weren’t easy. I absolutely adored Tom, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing. I’d look at this little person and see half of me and half of his dad. Unfortunately, he got the bad bits of me, like the rather prominent Woodward nose. I wanted Tom to grow up happy and content. I didn’t want him to be a spoilt brat. I wanted him to have all the things I didn’t have. But how did I do that? I had no bloody idea! It was only after Tom started to talk that our relationship really began to grow. I loved bedtimes. I loved just talking to him and listening to him, reading him his bedtime story and singing him bedtime songs. And no, I didn’t used to sing him Bananarama songs. His favourite was I Will Always Love You — the Dolly Parton version, before Whitney ruined it for us. I don’t want to use that clichéd word “bonded”, but something special happened. We got closer and closer. We became friends.
Bananarama singer reveals she got pregnant at the height of the band's success when Venus was Number 1
Keren: I had no idea that I was pregnant. I just thought I was a bit run down. Didn’t fancy a beer, didn’t want to smoke, didn’t feel like partying… What’s going on? So off I went to the doctor and he said: “Ah, you’re pregnant.” “Pregnant! Oh God! What am I going to do? I can’t be pregnant. I haven’t got time. The diary’s full for the next 18 months… It couldn’t have happened at a more inconvenient time. It was at the height of the success Bananarama had in the States. We had a No 1 record, Venus, and I was pregnant — throwing up everywhere and sweating like a pig. And the rest of the girls were useless. They had no understanding of what was happening to my body. All they could say was: “Look, will you just throw up and stop moaning? Why don’t you come out to this party? You’ll feel a lot better.”
I totally went to pieces. Complete panic. Okay, I’m a woman, so technically I’m capable of being a mother, but I didn’t have the faintest idea of what to do. I was 25 and David (David-Scott Evans), Tom’s father, was 23 or 24. We were just a couple of bloody kids, the same age that Tom is now. The idea of him being a father is just scary. I lecture him almost every day: “Don’t you dare do what I did.”
But even though it had all been a bit of an accident, there was no question of me not going through with the pregnancy. Nothing to do with religion or anything like that. It’s just who I am. No, no, no, no, no! And, let’s face it, David and I were in a much better position than a lot of young parents. We had a nice home and a bit of money. We were comfortable.
The biggest problem was that I was the main breadwinner. If Mummy didn’t go off to Tokyo for two weeks, then Mummy didn’t get any money. Tom probably has no recollection of it, but he was dragged around the world a bit when he was a baby. He’d be there at the side of the stage waving at me, and I’d be trying to sing through my tears of joy. “Oh, look! There’s my boy.”
Tom probably doesn’t remember much about me and David splitting up, either. Actually, there’s not that much to remember. Tom was about two. David and I realised it wasn’t working, and David moved to the next street. He was still Tom’s dad and everybody still got on — we just weren’t together any more. We worried about the effect it would have on Tom, but equally we both felt it was a mistake to stay together “just for the kids”. What kid wants to grow up watching his parents not getting on? I look at Tom now and think: “Yes, we made the right decision.” He’s the most balanced and easy-going person I know.
I’ll be honest with you — those first couple of years weren’t easy. I absolutely adored Tom, but I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing. I’d look at this little person and see half of me and half of his dad. Unfortunately, he got the bad bits of me, like the rather prominent Woodward nose. I wanted Tom to grow up happy and content. I didn’t want him to be a spoilt brat. I wanted him to have all the things I didn’t have. But how did I do that? I had no bloody idea! It was only after Tom started to talk that our relationship really began to grow. I loved bedtimes. I loved just talking to him and listening to him, reading him his bedtime story and singing him bedtime songs. And no, I didn’t used to sing him Bananarama songs. His favourite was I Will Always Love You — the Dolly Parton version, before Whitney ruined it for us. I don’t want to use that clichéd word “bonded”, but something special happened. We got closer and closer. We became friends.
