Thomas Cohen on life after Peaches: 'I had to face the pain'

18 Apr 2016

Thomas Cohen has said he "had to face the pain" of losing his wife Peaches Geldof in order to cope with his grief. The 25-year-old musician was left devastated when Peaches passed away in 2014, leaving behind Thomas and their two young sons, Astala, now four, and Phaedra, three.In a candid new interview with The Guardian, Thomas said grief should not be given a time limit, and is something that needs to be worked through fully.

Thomas Cohen has spoken about facing his grief following Peaches' death

"Although it is obviously a very painful process, it is a process," he says. "If I'd given myself a time limit, then I wouldn't be able to do interviews now or even talk about it."And I do want to talk about it, in a very loving, kind way. Because that's the only way of doing it. It has to come from you. It has to be you that drags yourself out of it and faces that pain, which is so terrifying. It's not a case of saying: 'Right I'm done with that,' because it will come and bite you, basically."

The star said parenthood and music gave him 'purpose'

The star said he found the process of writing songs soon after Peaches' death particularly cathartic. "And it gave me a purpose," he said. "Aside from parenthood, obviously, it was my only real personal belonging. I could create something new, rather than just be a single father, which is also what I am, but a musician, too. "Many of the songs in Thomas' new album, Bloom Forever, tackle his loss, and his complicated relationship with Peaches. "I think any time you love someone, you're slightly scared of it," he admitted. "But when they have addiction issues and the border of life and death is so constant and close and intertwined throughout the whole thing, it's heightened. But that doesn't take away from any of the experience or relationship."

Thomas with his adorable boys, Astala and Phaedra

He obviously doesn't feel that same terror when it comes to his sons. "Nooooooo, they're not scary!" he said, his face melting into a grin. "I think with kids, I just knew that I was very ready to love something the way you love a child."