A bloke dubbed the UK’s ‘most married man’ has revealed he’s moving to a care home after saying his wives have ‘worn his body out’.
Ron Sheppard, 74, has hit headlines over the years for his many, many marriages – having tied the knot no less than eight times.
Sheppard now feels his dating days are over, and plans to enjoy his later life in the comfort of a care home.
He is due to leave his two-bedroom flat in Somerton for a new life in a care home on the Isle of Wight, where he can be closer to his family.
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Sheppard has eight children from his marriages, having first got hitched as a 19-year-old in 1966 to a woman called Margaret.
The pair, who share three kids, divorced after just two years, before Sheppard married his second wife Jeanette in 1973.
She was followed by Lesley in 1976, Kathy in 1982, Sue in 1986, Usha in 1999, Wan in 2003 and Weng in 2004.
But now Sheppard wants to spend some time alone as he embraces a much slower pace in a care home, having become reliant on a wheelchair and a team of carers that visit him three times a day due to a range of medical conditions, including Parkinson’s Disease, Lewy Body Dementia, COPD and Arachnoiditis.
“My health is not good now,” he told SomersetLive.
“I think it’s possible all my wives have worn my body out over the years.
"The mental and physical stress of the divorces have taken their toll.”
Ron first tied the knot in 1966 when he walked up the aisle with Margaret. While Sheppard has been single since his marriage to Weng broke down, he said he’s had several ‘friendships’ with women in that time.
He continued: “I don’t regret any of my marriages, because I have my eight children.”
Sheppard believes his multiple marriages may have something to do with the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.
“It left me with a lot of problems,” he explained.
“I was constantly craving companionship and I turned to women. I felt safe in the company of women.”
But now Sheppard says he spends his days ‘in a lot of pain’ which have kept him largely at home.
“I can’t do anything really as I shake so much,” he said.
“I have carers come in to help me three times a day. They cook me meals and check on me and do shopping.
“I don’t really go out at all apart from when I occasionally go shopping with my carers.”
Sheppard, who spoke about his relationships in his 2014 autobiography Lord of the Weddings, is now working on a second book called The Wife Collector, saying it’s due to be accompanied by a film being made in the US.
He added: “I have a care home place organised but I am just waiting on social services.
"And I am looking forward to getting over there and starting a new chapter of my life.”
As for whether or not Ron is open to any further romances?
“If I meet a nice lady in the care home I think I will just keep it as a friendship,” he laughed.
“I’ve eaten enough wedding cake over the years. I’m done with going up the aisle."
Topics: UK News, Sex and Relationships
Jess Hardiman