Romeo Rod Is Love Cheat

As told by Rosemarie.........

The last thing I was looking for was another relationship with a musician.Big egos,artistic temperament and lots of lonely nights,while they were on the road touring.

My first husband had been a musician.We'd been married fourteen and a half years and had two children.When we divorced in 1982,I was left to bring up the boys myself.

"Never again" I vowed."Once bitten,twice shy" I told friends.

Nevertheless,when I met Rob Hawthorn in Hollands wine bar three years later,I liked him.He was nine years younger,good-looking and had a boyish charm.But as soon as I found out he was a musician,I ran the other way.

That didn't deter Rob.We became friends and he'd turn up at the same parties."What would you like to drink?" he'd ask."Can I give you a lift home,Rosemarie? How is work going?" he'd say.

I was 39 and working as PA in London,so i had a demanding career.But he was always attentive,kind and so persistent.Eventually he wore me down.Once I succumbed to his charms,he swept me off my feet and we had a whirlwind romance.

"Will you marry me Rosemarie" he asked after two weeks.We'd both drunk a lot.

"No" I replied."I can't take your proposal seriously."

A couple of months later he asked again."Will you marry me Rosemarie...please say you will" he said.

I giggled.We were sitting in a nightclub,the music so loud we could hardly hear each other,but this time I said yes.

We booked the register office in Fulham,West London,and four months after our first meeting I became his wife.We had a small reception for family and friends.Unfortunately we couldn't have a honeymoon straight away.

Rob was the lead singer with a band called Alaska and they were due to start a European tour.I kissed my new husband goodbye,as he took to the road,but arranged to meet up with him two weeks later in Paris,for a proper honeymoon.

I missed him so much and couldn't wait to see him.When I arrived in Paris he was at the hotel waiting for me."Oh Rosemarie,I missed you,do you know we haven't spent any time together since we got married" he said in his boyish way.

"So,let's make our time together now really special" I said lovingly.Just then there was a knock on the door.It was one of the band's roadies,who'd brought two young girls with him - obviously groupies.

Rob was embarrassed and upset."What are they doing here? Take them away!" he snapped,before apologising to me.I was shaken,but I knew this kind of thing went on,girls who wanted to sleep with musicians,simply because they were in a band.

"I trust you absolutely" I told him.And I did.

Rob was anxious to be a father."I'm not sure,Rob,I'm a bit wary of having more children and don't want to be left to holding the baby," I told him.

But Rob was insistent.He was so attentive and I didn't see him ever running off.When I became pregnant,he said how sensitive and musical our baby would be.Our daughter Holly was born in 1987.Rob was a doting dad.

His earnings from the band were irregular so he quit,hoping to launch a solo career.At the time I didn't think it was a wise move.The musicians in Alaska were all talented.The group's founder was Bernie Marsden,from Whitesnake.

As Rob's income wasn't steady,we borrowed money on the mortgage,and although it had been mine before I met Rob,we put the flat in our joint names.

When singing jobs were not forthcoming,he became a specialist decorator to make money.We had our fair share of problems but on the whole we were happy,though at times he was immature.

Whenever there were rows he'd storm off to his parents,who lived nearby,like a little boy."I'm going to my mum and dad's" he'd say.They doted on him.

When we'd been married for more than ten years when Rob,now in his forties,started to become depressed because he wasn't singing - the thing he loved the most.

One day I was watching breakfast television and I saw a feature on a pop star impersonator,who made lots of money from it.I had an idea.

"People are always remarking on your vocal similarity with Rod Stewart" I told him."And you also look like him,so why don't you make a demo tape and send it to some agencies?" I suggested.

"I'm not sure.I don't think I want to spend my life impersonating someone else" he said unenthusiastically.

But finally he agreed,so I booked a recording studio and he recorded the Scottish rocker's hit song Maggie May.

"Your throaty vocals sound just like his" I told him,amazed at the likeness.An agency rang back straight away.Rob's career as a Rod Stewart impersonator had begun.

I knew his earnings would be good,but I had doubts about the lifestyle the job would entail.I didn't like the idea of him away from home.We were a close family,so I decided to manage Rob.Both Holly and I would travel with him on his summer bookings.

One of his first jobs was a summer season at Butlin's,topping the bill with Tina Turner impersonator Nova Casper.Before the season,they had a booking together on the South Coast.

Holly and I stayed behind.But instead of returning home right after the show,I later found out that he gone 200 miles out of his way,to spend the night at Nova's parents' home in Manchester.

I was furious,especially when,a few days later,I heard a message on our answering machine from Nova."Hi,Rob, it's Nova.It was lovely seeing you last week and it will be great travelling with you this summer" she said in her bright little voice.

I confronted him."Did you sleep with her?" I asked.

"No,of course not" he said."Her mother was there with us,so we weren't even alone."

I didn't believe him,but I loved him and making our marriage work meant a lot to me.

"Does this mean that my role as wife,manager and travelling companion has been completely usurped by the Rod and Tina double act?" I shouted.

"No,Rosemarie" he said.

I felt guilty - perhaps I'd been wrong,so I phoned Nova to apologise.I'd been shouting in the background when she had called Rob again to get some information.

But she was very rude,refusing to listen to what I had to say,and she threatened me.I went to his agent and said that if she remained on the bill,Rob would pull out of the show.Rob was furious when he found out and stormed off.

From then on our relationship changed.Rob's home became a hotel.He'd arrive unannounced with an overnight bag and then be off for another long booking,on a cruise or somewhere in Europe.He was all over the place.I could never get hold of him on the telephone.He never seemed to pick it up.

He also changed,even Holly noticed."Mum,dad's different" she said."He seems unemotional as if he doesn't really care about us." Holly was now 11 and at the Arts Educational School in Chiswick.

Rob had been right;she did love music and dancing.From an early age she showed talent and was keen to go into the same profession as her father.She'd already had several television parts.

One day he telephoned me from Blackpool."Get your gladrags on,Rosemarie,we've been invited to the opening night of the season" he said.Excited,I made arrangements for Holly to be looked after and packed my bags.My joy was short-lived.He rang back an hour later.

"You can't come because it seems they don't have an invitation for you" he lied.Hundreds attended the event.I was bitterly disappointed.It had been a chance to get our marriage back on track.

On one of his rare visits,I found love letters and topless pictures of a woman.When confronted,he admitted that he was having an affair.We were in the car and I was fuming."Who is she?" I shouted.

"Her name's Ann" he said,and wouldn't elaborate.

I decided to get on with my life,without him.I started going out with my friends.

Then,after a girls' night out,I returned to find a message on the answering machine.It was Rob.He sobbed "I miss you and Holly."

He was in a bar,with lots of background noise."I love you both and want us to be a family again" he whispered through his tears.

I sat down and cried.I still loved him and thought we'd get through this.

Then,last summer,he invited Holly and me to Blackpool for a trip.It was great,all of us being together.

He was working with another Tina Turner impersonator called Marsha Raven.Bizarrely,she'd previously been living with another Rod Stewart look-a-like.Part of the act was for them to sing a duo together,River Deep,Mountain High.

When she saw me,her jaw dropped.She was obviously surprised.She seemed not to have realised he was married.When I started talking to other entertainers,they didn't know about his family either.It had slipped his mind to tell them.

On stage,Rob was wonderful as Rod Stewart.The same gravelly voice,the tight satin pants,the sexy posture.Girls were going mad,assuming he was like Rod off-stage...the same wild lifestyle with lots of leggy blondes.

It seemed they were right.He was living the part off-stage by adopting the persona.He was good-looking and I knew he was getting offered sex on a plate continually.What man could say no to that? But Rob wanted to turn his back on all of it.

"Let's renew our marriage vows,Rosemarie" he asked me."But this time,to a Catholic priest" he said.

I was over the moon.I was Catholic and wanted my marriage recognised by the church.It was a new start for us,but it never happened.

After Blackpool,he got two weeks' work in Germany in a show called Legends in Berlin,and left with my blessing."I'll keep in touch by phone" he promised.

But he became Rod again.When I phoned his hotel room,I heard girls giggling in the background."What are you playing at?" I asked.

"You can take it or leave it" he said.

He returned briefly and then went back to Germany.I didn't hear from him from seven months.No contact,letters or money.He didn't even send a birthday or Christmas card to Holly.She was devastated.They had been so close.

Meanwhile,my debts were mounting.Rob was earning over a £1,000 a week,with free food and accommodation,but I wasn't receiving a penny from him.Holly's school was threatening to throw her out if I didn't pay and my mortgage was falling into arrears.

At my wits' end,I called Germany,not sure if he was still there.I was told he wasn't.So I asked to talk to his girlfriend,instead."Hello,this is Annette - Rob's not here" she told me.That was the end.He was probably living with her.

When I watch shows like Stars in Their Eyes now,I get angry.Do these people know what they're getting into?

It's such a sleazy world,worse than the real rock world.People are thrown from nowhere into stardom on the back of a real star's name and their heads are turned.

My daughter and I are now faced with losing our home.Holly has left the stage school and is at a new state school.Our lives have been turned upside down,while my husband is living the life of Reilly or should I say Rod Stewart.

Obviously,if you're working with glamorous Tina Turner look-alikes every night,then the wife at home telling you to pay the bills becomes far less attractive.

I'm not bitter but I wish he'd never become Rod,because it broke-up our family.

I used to love Rod Stewart's music.Now I can't bear to listen to it.