Tony Bellew: Everything you need to know about the former boxer’s family and childhood

Tony Bellew is best known for being a champion boxer for over 10 years. He turned professional in 2007 and retired in 2018 after losing his fight against Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk. Tony Bellew, who has a massive net worth, is taking the Australian jungle in his stride and despite his fears, he tries his best at every trial he faces.

Tony Bellew grew up in Liverpool and has talked about what life was like in the ‘tough’ side of town. Moreover, the former boxer champion has recently experienced a tragic loss, just days before he was set to enter the I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here jungle, alongside Made in Chelsea star, Sam Thompson and JLS singer, Marvin Humes, who he seems to have formed a strong bond with.

Tony Bellew’s grandmother passed away

Tony Bellew revealed mid-November that his grandmother on his mother’s side, Rose had died at the age of 97. Tony received the news the day after he had signed his contract with ITV for this year’s I’m a Celeb.

Talking about the contract and his nan’s death, Tony explained that since he signed the contract, he wasn’t going to back out since if he signs something he would ‘honour’ his agreement. As per Mirror, he said:

I signed the day before she passed away, so there was no going back then. If I sign something, I honour my agreement. In an ideal world I would have left it but I had signed. I was coming, so I am here.

Tony Bellew did explain that the only way he wouldn’t do the show was if he was unable to attend his nan’s funeral. Thankfully, the former boxer will be able to fly home for his nan’s funeral, which will happen on December 15, as per Bellew:

But I am going back to bury her on the 15th. I was going to renegade if I couldn't move the burial date. I can bury her now when I get back.

Tony Bellew grew up in a single-parent home

Tony Bellew has shared snippets of his childhood during various interviews. In one of them, he revealed that he was raised in a single-parent household after his father had left when he was just 10 years old.

Tony was raised by his mother Gail, as per Reality Titbit, with the help of his beloved nan, Rose. Speaking about growing up with a single mother, Tony said that his nan became like a ‘second mum’ to him as his mother had to work.

As reported by Mirror, he said:

I come from a single parent household, my dad left when I was 10. So when you come from where I come from, your Nan helps around a lot because your mother goes to work.

So your nan is your second mum. She was a lovely, lovely woman, and she had the heart of gold, so she'll be missed by all of us. Me and my brothers and my mother and my dad by the way as well.

Tony Bellew’s mother and father had different views on boxing career

Tony Bellew has also revealed that his parents had very different views when it came to his boxing career. Tony’s mother was against him fighting. As per Reality Titbit, Bellew explained his mother asked him to give up his career:

I remember my own mother saying, ‘Son, give up this boxing game. You’re not the kind of person who does it’. When your own mother doesn’t think you should box, it doesn’t look good. No mother wants to see their son punched in the face…

However, the boxer’s father was very supportive and he believed Tony would go on to become world champion:

…but I’ve got a dad who loves me just as much and he always believed I would be world champion.

Tony Bellew’s father gave him some important advice

Not much is known about Tony Bellew’s father, but we do know that he was in prison twice, the reasons are not known. In an interview with Steve Bartlett on A Diary Of A CEO, Tony Bellew opened up about some advice his father had given him on one of his prison visits, and it stuck with him:

Son, don’t ever come here, because you see this place, it’s the house of failure. Everyone in here has failed. There’s no winners in here, there’s no great people in here. If you’re in here, you’ve failed.

When Tony was younger and working as a security guard for a night club, his father would make him wear a bulletproof vest before going to work, as reported by Mirror:

I'm working on a nightclub door before I've even left school. And Liverpool can be a tough place to be raised in, especially the night life.

So when you've got a father strapping a bullet proof vest on you for work ... then you know, it's work but you've got to earn money.

Read more:

⋙ Tony Bellew married his childhood sweetheart, who is Rachael Roberts?

⋙ Nella Rose: This is everything we know about the YouTuber’s family, from grief to homelessness

⋙ Jamie Lynn Spears: Here’s everything you need to know about her life, from husband to children

Sources used:

Reality Titbit: ‘Tony Bellew’s parents had opposing views on boxing career as ‘mum said to give up’

Mirror: ‘ITV I’m a Celebrity's Tony Bellew suffers family tragedy and will head home for funeral’

Mirror: ‘Tony Bellew opens up on wearing 'bullet proof vest' as boy in 'tough' Liverpool’

Daily Mail: ‘Tony Bellew: I was a fat kid going nowhere. Even mum told me to give up, but dad believed I'd be a champion’

Facebook: ‘Tony Bellew shares the advice his father gave him from behind bars.’