Simon Thomas ‘steps out in faith’ and leaves Sky Sports to focus on caring for son

The ex-Blue Peter star’s 40-year-old wife Gemma died in December just three days after being diagnosed with leukaemia.

In his blog called A Grief Shared, Thomas said: “I have had so many messages over the past few weeks. Ninety nine per cent of them have been quite simply lovely, but one of the recurring questions people have asked me on social media is ‘when are you going back to work?’

“However, after many, many weeks of wrestling with the question of what to do, I wanted to put it in writing what I have decided, and it’s with a heavy, but peaceful heart that I write these words: I have decided to leave Sky at the end of the season.”

Thomas has not returned to Sky – where he has worked for 13 years – since his wife’s death.

He said he will leave permanently at the end of the current football season in May.

Discussing his future, he said: “I’m going to be giving every ounce of energy I have to helping my boy navigate this strange new chapter of life and as a Christian, I have to trust God in this. This is not blind faith, this is real faith – and sometimes, that means stepping out into the unknown.”

Thomas, 45, has frequently spoken about his grief on social media, admitting that he is “really struggling”.

I’ve never ‘wallowed’ in my grief. Would never want to. Every day is painful, sometimes very very painful, but every day I get up, get on and embrace…