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SOPHIE & RICHARD: THEIR HISTORY
Husband Richard Jones
Birthdate: April 6, 1979
Favourite album: 'Revolver' by the Beatles
Favourite single: 'God Only Knows' by the Beach Boys
Favourite film: 'North by North West' by Alfred Hitchcock
Favourite crisps: Balsamic vinegar and sea salt Kettle chips
Favourite view: Pretty much anywhere in Italy
Favourite sense: Sight
Favourite animal: Sifaka
Favourite city: London
Favourite book: 'The Dice Man' by Luke Rheinhart and 'Slaughter House 5' by Kurt Vonnegut
Favourite website: www.iwantoneofthose.com
Their story
Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Richard Jones met when Sophie's management asked Richard's management company if they could recommend any musicians as Sophie
was looking for musicians to tour with her. Richard auditioned with Martin, Paul and Angie, who funnily enough, later would be the ones chosen by Sophie
to tour with her.
Richard went together with Paul and according to him that helped him a lot since they knew each other's playing so well. The first day of audition was
just in-out-in-out, but they were lucky to instantly click with Martin so they all were called back the next day and again a few days later. Sophie was
there for the second audition and that time they had to go through most of the songs with her.
Richard Jones, Martin Waugh, Paul Stewart and Angie Pollack were the musicians who toured with Sophie during 2002 and 2003 for her Read My Lips tour.
They did a total of 38 gigs together, not to mention TV appearances such as TOTP and CD:UK. After touring with Sophie, Richard said that she's definitely
a real musician and that's what her management was trying to promote by putting her on the road:
"Sophie writes her songs, she's a great vocalist and she has a part in everything. She comes in and she's like, 'Right, where's the bass
line? Where's that guitar part?', she's the disco queen, obviously, but with touring live, she's showing that there's this whole other area".
By the time they met, Sophie was dating Andy Boyd - her long-term boyfriend and also manager - and so was Richard (you can actually see him wearing
a ring on his right hand during Sophie's 2003 TV appearances). However, it seemed that the friendship they both formed during the Read My Lips tour
was actually turned into something else: Sophie said that Richard was the one she wanted to tell everything.
She and Richard drew closer then "in a I'm-thinking-differently-about-you kind of way", as Sophie describes it. She then ended her six-year relationship
with Andy Boyd, eleven years senior. They barely begun dating when she found herself pregnant. And this wasn't the hardest part to explain to her
former boyfriend and still manager.
"In a way it was more difficult to tell him I was going out with someone else than I was pregnant. I can never under-estimate that he was such
a huge part of my life and we both really care about what happens in each other's lives".
It was all very dramatic for the press. But Richard took it in his stride and the relationship has always been Richard, Sophie and the baby from the
very beginning. Plus, the baby was planned. If it wasn't, they would have taken precautions. The only part that wasn't planned was how quickly it
happened. They had been discussing their future together since their very first few dates - they talked about starting a family because they knew it
was right.
"Relationships don't have any rules. Sometimes, you meet someone and you want to move in with them after two weeks or you want to get married
after ten days. It's what happened between Richard and I. We love each other, we're devoted to one another and this baby will be surrounded by love".
On April 23rd 2004, Sophie had to rush to the hospital due to a pre-eclampsia condition. On that day, a baby born named Sonny Jones was born. Sonny was
born eight weeks earlier by emergency caesarean and was kept in hospital for tests and treatment after his birth. After five weeks in the hospital,
Sonny could come back home and Sophie and Richard couldn't hide their delight at finally having their family together at home.
In September 2004, Sophie had to rush to the hospital again as Sonny contracted the deadly brain bug meningitis. Fortunately, they found out about the
disease early and Sonny was soon back to his usual happy self.
In November 2004, Richard finally proposed to Sophie while they were in Barcelona. Richard fooled Sophie by telling her that he was not into marriage at all.
He spent ages planning it: they had had a few drinks at a quiet bar on the beach. Richard even got down on one knee to propose, "very romantic". Sophie
didn't have to think twice about saying 'yes'. The couple got married in a small ceremony in Umbria, Italy on June 25th, 2005.
The couple managed to keep the whole thing quiet as they didn't want to cause any fuss. Sophie simply wanted to get married and then dance. Sophie
refused to let gossip magazines to photograph her wedding. They wanted to enjoy their big day without the pressure of having to pose for magazine. The
wedding "was just perfect", according to Sophie. They made tradicional vows, but took out the word 'obey'.
During the wedding, Sophie sang "God Only Knows" to Richard (his favourite single) as a surprise with his band The Feeling. She also sang "Let's Go Fly A
Kite" as she loved Mary Poppins as a child. For her wedding, Sophie got her famous right-arm tattoo in which you read the word "FAMILY" inside a heart,
which symbolises her devotion to husband Richard and their son, Sonny.
After the wedding, Richard was also told that Island Records were going to sign his band. The Feeling is a five-pieced band from Sussex and soon they
became very successful, have got a lot of airplay and have gathered lots of fans during the past couple of years. Their first album, Twelve Stops and Home
(2006) went straight to #2 and their second album, Join With Us, was #1 in 2008.
Although Richard is bassist with The Feeling, him and Dan (The Feeling's lead singer) helped Sophie on her third album, Trip The Light Fantastic. Richard
played bass on several tracks of the album and Dan co-wrote some songs with Sophie and two of them made it into the album, Love Is Here (which is about
Sonny) and Only One. Richard also played bass for her once again in 2008, during Sophie's gig in Bucharest. Plus Sophie and Richard have been DJing
together under the name of Me & Mrs Jones.
Sophie loves being married. She says that being married makes a bigger difference. She also thinks that marriage can't help a bad relationship, but it
can make a good one better. Sophie gave birth to her second son, Kit Valentine, on February 7th, 2009, who, just like Sonny, was born with seven
months due to a pre-eclampsia condition.
As we can see, Sophie and Richard's marriage is getting stronger due to their love. Although they are well aware it might not last forever, you can't help
but admire them for their integrity, commitment and hard work to be together whenever possible and for keeping it real. A relationship that Sophie herself
describe as "a unite that feels invicible".
* Richard's "favourites" taken from The Feeling's Official Website.
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