It was 1967. The Supremes were the biggest thing on the planet, and Mary Wilson was the heart of that polished, sequined machine. Then she met Tom Jones.
Honestly, most people think of the "Sex Bomb" singer and the Motown queen as two completely different icons who maybe passed each other backstage at a variety show. But that’s not the whole story. Not even close. They had a two-year affair that was so intense it almost blew up one of the longest-standing marriages in show business history.
It started in a dressing room. Boring, right? Except it wasn't. Norman Wise, a booking agent, set up a meeting between Tom and The Supremes—Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, and Cindy Birdsong. Mary later admitted she felt the spark immediately. She said Tom was unlike any man she’d ever met.
They clicked. Instantly.
What Really Happened Between Mary Wilson and Tom Jones?
The romance wasn't just a quick fling. It was a globe-trotting, high-stakes relationship that lasted from roughly 1968 to 1970. Mary Wilson was famously "the sensible one" of the Supremes, but even she couldn't resist the Welsh powerhouse.
The problem? Tom was married.
He had married his childhood sweetheart, Linda Trenchard, when they were both just 16. By the time he met Mary, he was already famous for his "roving eye." In fact, Tom later claimed he slept with up to 250 women a year at the height of his fame.
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Mary knew about Linda. She hated being the "other woman"—she'd been through that before—but she fell for him anyway. She spent years traveling the world just to catch one night with him.
The Bournemouth Confrontation
If you want to know how close this came to disaster, look at the Bournemouth incident.
In 1968, Tom was performing at the Winter Gardens in the UK. Mary flew over to see him. Linda, who usually stayed home in Wales or Los Angeles to avoid the "groupie" chaos, got suspicious. She sensed something was different about this one.
Linda showed up at Tom's flat unannounced.
In a scene straight out of a movie, Mary had to be bundled out of the back of the apartment just minutes before Linda walked in the front door. Linda wasn't a pushover. She famously told Tom, "You’d better straighten it out because you won’t be able to do anything without your balls."
She meant it. Tom "straightened it out," at least for the moment, but the connection with Mary didn't just vanish.
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A Genuine Friendship (Seriously)
Here is the part that sounds like a PR stunt but is actually true: Linda and Mary eventually became friends.
Most people find that impossible to believe. How do you go from "I’m going to castrate my husband over you" to "Let's grab lunch"?
Tom explained years later that once the "flirtatious thing" cooled down, it turned into a genuine, deep-rooted family friendship. Mary became a regular fixture in their lives. She knew their son, Mark. She stayed close to Tom and Linda for decades.
In her 1986 autobiography, Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme, Mary was incredibly candid about the affair. She didn't write it to be messy; she wrote it because it was a massive part of her life. She talked about the "hotly passionate" nature of their time together, but she also spoke about the regret of hurting another woman.
The Copacabana and the Moon Landing
One of the coolest stories from their time together involves, of all things, the moon.
On July 20, 1969, Mary Wilson was sitting in Tom Jones' dressing room at the Copacabana in New York. They weren't just partying; they were glued to a tiny TV screen watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon.
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Margie Haber, a close friend of Mary’s, was there too. She recalled Tom walking in wearing nothing but a short towel.
Think about that for a second. Two of the biggest stars in the world, tucked away in a legendary nightclub, watching human history unfold together. It captures the surreal, "larger than life" nature of their relationship perfectly.
Why Their Connection Still Matters
Mary Wilson passed away in February 2021 at the age of 76. Tom was devastated. He publicly called her a "friend of the family" and admitted they had stayed close right until the end.
Their story matters because it breaks the "diva" and "womanizer" stereotypes.
- It humanizes them. They weren't just posters on a wall; they were two young people navigating fame and complicated feelings.
- It shows the complexity of 1960s stardom. The crossover between Motown and the "British Invasion" era stars was constant and deeply personal.
- It proves that relationships evolve. What started as a scandalous affair ended as a 50-year friendship.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Historians
If you're looking to dive deeper into this specific era of music history, don't just stick to the tabloids.
- Read Mary’s Books: Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme is the gold standard for Motown memoirs. It’s raw and honest.
- Watch "This is Tom Jones": Look for episodes from 1969 and 1970. You can see the chemistry between these performers in the way they moved and shared the stage with other Motown acts like Stevie Wonder or Aretha Franklin.
- Contextualize the "Tax Exile" Era: Understand that Tom moving to LA in the 70s changed his social circle entirely, bringing him even closer to the US soul scene.
The bond between Mary Wilson and Tom Jones wasn't just a footnote in a gossip column. It was a lifelong connection that survived scandals, threats, and the grueling pressure of the spotlight. It was, quite simply, a real friendship built on the ruins of a complicated love.