Soccer Aid star Roman Kemp broke Welsh rugby hero's finger in charity match

Soccer Aid star Roman Kemp broke Welsh rugby hero's finger in charity match
Roman Kemp is back for Soccer Aid 2025 and has history when it comes to celebrity football matches
Soccer Aid's Roman Kemp
(Image: PA )
Soccer Aid regular Roman Kemp will once again be donning his boots this weekend, turning out for England against the Rest of the World XI at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Wearing the Three Lions on his chest makes a change for the popular One Show and radio presenter. In past Soccer Aids, the Los Angeles-born Kemp has turned out for the Rest of the World side thanks to his dual citizenship. Having played in 2019 and 2020, he was forced to pull out in 2021 after testing positive for Covid-19.
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However, he made his return to the match last year before switching allegiances this year.
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Famous father's health battle and money struggles
In the debut episode of his 'You About?' podcast with friend and Soccer Aid team-mate Tom Grennan, Kemp opened up on having famous parents.
His dad is Spandau Ballet bassist and EastEnders star Martin Kemp, while his mum is Shirlie Kemp of Pepsi & Shirlie fame.
Tom quizzed his friend about the media presence in his younger years, prompting Roman to speak about how his dad suffered from a serious health condition and had to undergo operations "for his brain".
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"You've got two ways of looking at it, basically," he said. "Like, it's one or the other. Like, my parents like had us in flipping OK! and Hello magazine when we were kids, right?
"But that's because my parents had no money at the time, because my dad had all these operations and s**t for his brain, so they were trying to get more money, right?"
During a medical examination in 1997, an MRI revealed that Martin had two brain tumours, one of which was removed with surgery, while the other was addressed via radiotherapy.
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Although these operations proved successful, the side effects continue to this day, with the musician suffering from epilepsy.
Martin also struggles with dyslexia, while, in November 2024, he made a stark revelation about his brain tumour battle, suggesting that he believes he has just 10 years left to live.
Injuring a Welsh rugby legend
As well as Soccer Aid, Roman has experience with charity football matches - although one saw him injure a Welsh rugby legend.
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Last year, Kemp was up against former Wales wing Shane Williams in a match in aid of Josh's Smile and The Bradley Lowery Foundation. Celebrities and former sportsmen from the countries competed against one another at the Swansea.com Stadium in a Wales v England clash.
Rugby legend Williams arrived a tad late for the fixture, having taken part on the CARTEN 100-mile bike ride in the morning from Cardiff to Tenby.
He darted back to Swansea for the game but managed to do some damage to one of his digits soon after.
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Posting to Instagram after the match, Williams said: "Well that was a busy Saturday! Carten ride then Joseph's Smile UK Wales v England footy match at Swansea.com Stadium. All for brilliant causes. Wales 2 England 0 by the way! Dislocated finger and pulled hamstring to boot! What can you do… I had fun!"
It turns out that the dislocated finger was caused by radio and TV star Kemp, who, in Williams' words, "absolutely clattered" him.
"I did the CARTEN bike ride, it was about 23 degrees, it was a warm one," Williams explained on the Sportin Wales podcast.
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"I had the factor 50 on my bald spots as well. I managed to survive that, and then I had to get down to the Swansea.com Stadium for the Joseph's Smile charity match that I promised I would do. I was late, I got there at half-time, cameo role. Got on, and lucky enough to have the pleasure of playing in the stadium again. Good crowd down there which was nice.
"I got clattered by Roman Kemp and dislocated my finger, which is not one of the highlights of my sporting career to be honest with you! Then pulled my hamstring. But we won 2-0 so that was the main thing."

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