Emag.co.uk Entertainment News Leader
Britain’s Got Talent star Ian Marshall reveals he ran away from home when he was just 14 following horrific abuse suffering at the hands of his alcoholic dad.
Ian was the oldest of seven children in the family and started working for his dad’s coal business when he was just 7. He used to be beaten really badly.
Ian said, “I used to sit in a cafe shivering and I was so cold I couldn’t get any heat into my body at all. No one once asked me if I’d like a cup of tea or a bowl of soup.”
The 64-year-old added he was raped by two gay men after being offered a room to sleep in. He even tried committing suicide living on the streets of Yorkshire.
Ian performed on Saturday’s episode with wife Anne, 61, on the song of Beyonce – Crazy in Love together. The two won the heart of judge David Walliams, who said the pair are the spirit of the show.
Ian met Anne in Aldershot, Hampshire, after joining Army Catering Corps. After just nine days of knowing each other in 1972 the two got married. Anne was then 17 and she had to write to her parents to seek permission.
Anne was then with the Women’s Royal Army Corps.
Ian has cooked for the Royal family too.
In 2010 Anne was struck down by a mystery bowel complaint. She was too ill and unable to work. They had to sell their family home in Belfast. Ian had given up the floristry business too to take care of his wife.
Currently both are living in private rented accommodation and Anne is able to manage her condition by diet restrictions.
