On Sunday night’s episode of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, the jungle briefly faded away — replaced by the glow of the 1980s, the soundtrack of Spandau Ballet, and a love story that has outlasted fame, fashion and entire eras of British pop culture.
Martin Kemp, now 64, spoke quietly but with unmistakable tenderness. In moments, he transported his campmates — and millions watching — back to a time when shoulder pads were big, ballads were slow, and falling in love felt cinematic.
It was the rare kind of confession you only hear when the cameras are rolling but the heart is unguarded.
A Clifftop Wedding in 1988 — and a Moment of Magic Hours Later
Martin described whisking Shirlie Holliman, then one half of Pepsi & Shirlie and forever linked to the Wham! universe, to the sunlit cliffs of St Lucia in 1988. No glamour, no press, no entourage — just the Caribbean breeze, three witnesses, and two of the brightest stars of the decade promising each other forever.
He laughed as he recalled how simple it all was.
“Honestly, if you inspected the paperwork too closely, you might find we’re not actually married,” he joked.
But even as he told the story with humour, the nostalgia settled in.
The 80s were wild. Their wedding wasn’t.
And then came the twist — the one that made the entire camp burst out laughing.
They had spent years struggling to conceive because of Shirlie’s endometriosis. Doctors told them it would be difficult. Hope had started to fade.
But on that warm, quiet wedding night, something shifted.
Martin grinned:
“And then on the night we got married — kaboom.”
It was the punchline of the episode.
But behind it was something deeper: the miracle that changed everything.
“She’s My Everything” — The Line That Stopped the Jungle
Later, alone in the Bush Telegraph, the rock star softened.
Gone was the Spandau swagger.
Gone was the cheeky grin
In its place: sincerity.
“It’s friendship,” he said simply. “Shirlie is everything to me. Everything I do in my life… I do it for her.”
The line lingered — the kind of sentence you expect in a love letter, not a reality show.
On social media, viewers called it “the most beautiful moment of the season.”
The Pop Culture Fairy Tale George Michael Helped Write
Their love story reads like an 80s film, and George Michael — their lifelong friend — played the unexpected cupid.
Martin saw Shirlie performing on Top of the Pops in 1982.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off her,” he admitted.
He approached her weeks later at a screening, but she hesitated to call back for three entire weeks.
Shirlie later confessed she was overwhelmed — he was famous, handsome, and “too dazzling to be real.”
Then George stepped in.
He grabbed her phone, dialled Martin’s number, and pushed it into her hands.
Martin’s mum answered.
Shirlie asked shyly, “Is Martin there, please?”
That awkward, adorable beginning became the foundation of a 37-year marriage.
And their first date?
George came as the chaperone.
Martin laughed:
“We spent the whole night trying to lose him.”
It was pure 80s chaos — the kind of story fans of Wham!, Pepsi & Shirlie, and Spandau Ballet live for.
Two Children, Four Decades, One Bond That Never Faded
A year after that Caribbean wedding, their daughter Harley Moon was born.
Four years later came Roman, who would eventually become one of the UK’s most beloved broadcasters.
Through fame, reinvention, parenthood and health battles, Martin and Shirlie remained unshakeable — becoming one of Britain’s most enduring showbiz couples, the kind whose romance makes people sigh, “They don’t make love stories like that anymore.”
The James Bond Revelation That Stunned Fans
And because no 80s icon’s story is complete without a shock twist, Martin casually revealed he once met with Barbara Broccoli and was considered for the role of James Bond.
Kelly Brook gasped on the spot.
Fans online agreed instantly:
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“Martin Kemp as Bond? Absolutely!”
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“He had the looks — tall, blue-eyed, magnetic.”
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“He would’ve been unforgettable.”
Some even joked they’d have rewatched the entire franchise just for him.
An 80s Love Story Still Shining in 2025
In a jungle filled with bugs, bickering and Bushtucker Trials, it was this moment — this gentle slice of nostalgia — that stole the show.
A reminder of a time when pop stars were larger than life, friendships were fiercely loyal, and love stories were built to last.
Martin and Shirlie aren’t just a couple.
They’re a chapter of British pop history — one that’s still being written, hand in hand, nearly 40 years later.
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