Shane MacGowan’s wife admits losing him ‘isn’t as bad’ as she feared-Josie Copson-Entertainment – Metro

Shane MacGowan’s wife Victoria Mary Clarke has found grief isn’t as bad as she was anticipating.

The Pogues star died ‘peacefully’ at 3am on November 30 at the age of 65, just weeks before celebrating his 66th birthday on Christmas Day.

Victoria – who married MacGowan in 2018 after decades together – has given an update on how she’s coping.

While speaking on Good Morning Britain the 57-year-old journalist admitted she’d spent years worried about his death, and how she would spiral.

‘I spent many many years, probably at least 35 years worried about losing Shane as he pushed boundaries so much with what humans can do to their body,’ she admitted.

‘I dreaded that. I thought that I would fall apart. I thought I’d die, I thought I’d not be able to speak or go on drugs myself – something like that.’

Victoria was honest about how she’s been coping (Picture: Good Morning Britain)

Due to the outpouring of love, Victoria has found that she has been able to cope better than expected.

‘I want you all to know it’s not as bad as you think it’s going to be [losing a loved one] and there’s a huge amount of love that comes your way when you lose someone that you didn’t really expect,’ Victoria told viewers.

‘I’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of love.’

Victoria and Shane married in 2018 (Picture: Phillip Massey/FilmMagic)

Hosts Susanna Reid and Ed Balls praised Victoria for her positivity and expressed their desire to see his Christmas song Fairytale of New York finally reach number one.

Fairytale of New York was originally released in 1987 and previously peaked at number two.

After three decades on the radio, the iconic track is now the bookies’ favourite for Christmas number one 2023 as it fights for the festive top spot against other classics.

Victoria revealed that although she loves the festive song now, she admitted that at first she thought it was ‘a bit cheesy.’

‘I often criticised his songwriting,’ she added.

MacGowan had been in hospital since June but returned home shortly before his death and Victoria shared that they enjoyed living a quiet life together in his final months.

‘We spent most of our recent years sitting at home watching The Crown.

‘We were happy. That’s what we wanted,’ she proclaimed.

Victoria said they were happy just watching The Crown (Picture: Instagram/Victoria Mary Clarke)

MacGowan died from pneumonia after previously suffering a devastating brain swelling condition, and Victoria was the person to announce his death in a family statement which read: ‘Shane will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life.’

She added: ‘I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures.’

MacGowan’s funeral will be held in Tipperary on Friday (December 8).

The acclaimed musician will be celebrated at a mass in Nenagh, his family’s homeplace. The mass will be open to the public.

Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV.

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