Martin Kemp addresses major shift in relationship with wife Shirlie due to health ordeal

Throughout the 1980s, Spandau Ballet were one of the biggest rock bands on the planet, with an international reputation peaking when they played to a global audience estimated at 1.9 billion as part of 1985’s Live Aid concert. However, Bassist Martin Kemp’s life with wife Shirlie is a good deal less rock and roll these days.

These days, he’s more likely to be found in his garden than a nightclub, and Martin says life his changed completely when, in 1995, he was treated for two brain tumours: “Up until that point,” he tells Country Living Magazine, “ I was still a kid, I think.”

His says his wife Shirlie – who had her own period of pop fame as part of Wham spinoff group Pepsi and Shirlie – was the main organising influence in his life, but that their relationship is very different now: “The brain tumour made me re-evaluate everything,” he says.

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Martin explains that the shock of the diagnosis left him determined to slow down and appreciate the little things, in life, adding: “When you’re young, you race through life – always heading to the next big thing, I always tell my kids: when something good happens, remember to stop and breathe it in."

Martin, along with older brother Gary, enjoyed a second career as an actor. After they appeared together as fearsome East End gangsters in The Krays, Martin appeared in several US TV shows such as The Outer Limits, Murder Between Friends, and Highlander, before carving out a memorable role as the villainous Steve Owen in EastEnders.

While the surgery to treat his brain tumours was successful, it’s left him with a lasting legacy – he has suffered from epilepsy since the operation, and has a metal plate in his skull that, he jokes, means he could never slip quietly through metal-detectors at airports.

He and Shirlie – his wife since 1988 – have since moved to a rambling Victorian property in Hertfordshire where they enjoy the country life, and Martin says he particularly enjoys the meditative peacefulness of gardening. In May 2024, they were featured in BBC's coverage of the Chelsea Flower Show.

“I believe that gardens are about moments, not seasons” he says. "I love the winter as much as the spring or autumn.

“Even in the heavy rain, there’s a satisfaction in looking after it. I never forget to stand back and enjoy it.”