Inside Bonnie Tyler's unconventional marriage to her Olympic athlete husband Robert Sullivan - and his surprise link to Catherine Zeta-Jones

By CAROLINE PEACOCK, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER Published: 00:01, 10 July 2026 | Updated: 00:11, 10 July 2026 Bonnie Tyler shot to global fame in 1983 with the release of her chart-topping power ballad Total Eclipse Of The Heart. She went on to sell an estimated 100 million records worldwide over a career spanning more than five decades, earning three Grammy nods and an MBE for services to music. But behind all of her success was her loving husband of 53 years, former Olympic judoku competitor turned property investor, Robert Sullivan.  On Thursday, it was announced that Bonnie died 'unexpectedly' at the age of 75, just weeks after going into cardiac arrest following surgery, which left her in an induced coma. In the wake of her passing, the Daily Mail takes a look back at their unconventional marriage and his surprising link to Catherine Zeta-Jones.  Bonnie was born - as Gaynor Hopkins - to her coal miner father Glyndwr and homemaker mother Elsie in 1951. Inside Bonnie Tyler's unconventional marriage to her Olympic athlete husband Robert Sullivan (pictured on their wedding day) Behind all of Bonnie's success was her loving husband of 53 years, Robert  (pictured 2014) She grew up in a four-bedroom council house with her three sisters and two brothers in Skewen, Neath, Wales. The singer left school at 16 and began working in a grocery shop. And it was in a local nightclub where she met the love of her life in 1970. Robert was working as a club manager in Swansea, where Bonnie started singing on the local circuit. Sparks flew between the pair, and they were married three years later, when the singer was aged 22. In a previous interview with The Times, Bonnie revealed why she thought their relationship lasted so long. She said: 'I think the secret to our success is that we met before I was famous. 'We don't have children because we left it too late to stop taking precautions, and then I had a miscarriage when I was 40. 'I was unlucky, but I love all my nieces and nephews.' During the early 70s, Robert was a prominent judoka competitor and took part in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He competed for Great Britain in the men's half-middleweight division, placing 18th. He also earned a silver medal at the 1972 European Team Championships in the Netherlands. After retiring from judo, Robert transitioned to a career in real estate and later became a successful property developer. He and Bonnie invested in property worldwide, starting in the '70s when Robert and his business partner bought a plot of land in New Zealand.  'At first we had a cashmere goat farm; then it became a dairy farm,' Bonnie told The Times in 2023, the same year she and Robert sold the farm. 'We also own 65 stables in Lambourn, Berkshire, which we rent to the Jockey Club,' she added. 'We used to own 22 houses in Berkshire, but we've sold 17 of them.' Bonnie and Robert split their time between their homes in Portugal and south Wales. She first bought a property in the Algarve in the 1970s, having fallen in love with the region while recording an album. In 2009, she knocked down her five-bedroom villa in Albufeira to build a full-frontal glass home with elaborate garden water features. Speaking about the area, she said: 'It's a magical place where you could sail out to sea at midnight and enjoy a barbecue and return to shore in the early hours of the morning to find the local bars still open.' Robert was working as a club manager in Swansea, where Bonnie started singing on the local circuit Bonnie and Robert split their time between their homes in Portugal and south Wales (pictured in Swansea in 2003) The pair also owned several rental properties in Portugal. Speaking to the Mirror last year, she said: 'I started singing when I was 17 and I never thought I'd still be doing it at this age. I've slowed down a little bit, but I know now that I will never retire. 'Even though I was so lucky because I was in Portugal when the first lockdown was announced, by the end of it, I'd had enough. I was going crazy. I needed to get back out there on the road!' But their relationship wasn't always smooth sailing. In 2016, Meghann Pernot, a French fan of Tyler, alleged in an interview with The Mirror that she had an 18-month affair with Robert. The affair and weekly sex sessions in hotels began in Portugal in summer 2014, claims Meghann. Meghann said: 'I would organise the hotels. He asked me not to put his name on the room.  'He was very careful. He'd rush off and I wanted him to stay with me. I'd be crazy at him as it was difficult.' While the claim was never proven, it became a difficult public episode for the couple. Opening up about her relationship with Robert in 2012, Bonnie said: 'I am still very much in love with him and he with me. We never fall out. He is very easy on the eye, which helps.' In another interview a year later, she said both had been unfaithful in their younger days.  She said: 'I wouldn't put up with anything like that now and I wouldn't expect him to but this was the 70s. 'I was travelling without him. He had his own business and we couldn't travel together. 'We've had ups and downs but if you can get through it all it makes you stronger.' As if having a rock star wife wasn't enough, Robert is related to Oscar-winning actress Catherine Zeta-Jones (Catherine and Bonnie) As if having a pop star wife wasn't enough, Robert is related to actress Catherine Zeta-Jones. He is the cousin of Catherine's father, David James Jones, making him her first-cousin once-removed. The actress once even gave a public shout-out to her famous relatives on Instagram. Sharing a video of her family dancing to Total Eclipse Of The Heart during the 2017 solar eclipse, Catherine revealed: 'The fantastic Bonnie Tyler is related to us Jones'. Total Eclipse Of The Heart was released in 1983 and went on to become the best-selling single of all time, with six million units sold.  Bonnie's fifth studio album, Faster Than the Speed of Night, debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart. Her commercial success led to several award nominations, including two Grammys, two AMAs and a BRIT Award.  She was named Best Recording Artist at the Variety Club of Great Britain Awards, and she received a Goldene Europa. In 2023, Bonnie was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her outstanding services to music. She said: 'Lots of people ask me aren't you fed up of singing it, but there is no way, I love it and everybody does, it is a karaoke classic.' She added that she never expected to be awarded an MBE, but did not think twice about accepting. She said: 'I never ever thought I would have something like this, my mother and father would be so proud. 'To be nominated for a Grammy was wonderful, but to be given an MBE for something I absolutely love doing is a highlight of my career.' Bonnie's last public performance was in March, when she performed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. The Welsh songstress was due to start her European tour later this year. Speaking in March, Bonnie spoke about pain she'd been having in her knees, which at the time were her only real health concerns. She told Hello!: 'I'm fit enough at the moment, touch wood, and I'm really enjoying doing the shows. 'I'm still rocking on that stage with my wonderful band, and if you've got your health, you've got everything. 'I do home Pilates, only 20 minutes a day - it's something I can do in my hotel rooms. 'I have had problems with my knees; I didn't have new knees, I had what they call washouts [a surgical knee procedure], which turned out to be very successful. So, hopefully that will last for a long time.' Bonnie was first admitted to hospital in May to be treated for emergency bowel surgery and a perforated intestine after a burst appendix. A spokesperson for the singer confirmed at the time: 'Bonnie has been put into an induced coma by her doctors to aid her recovery. We know that you all wish her well and ask for privacy at this difficult time please. 'We will issue a further statement when we are able to.' Bonnie was due to perform at the Sunshine Festival in Worcester this summer, along with a number of European dates, and was also booked to perform at Cardiff's Utilita Arena on December 17. It was first reported that Bonnie had started feeling unwell in May. She had been bedridden for two days at her Algarve home before her worried husband Robert Sullivan took her to the private hospital she was seen at before being transferred to Faro. The singer, who has had multiple hits in her long career and competed at the Eurovision Song Contest representing the UK in 2013, is believed to have been rushed to hospital on April 30. Bonnie's last public performance was in March, when she performed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London A day earlier, when her health woes first emerged, the spokesman had said: 'We are very sorry to announce that Bonnie has been admitted to hospital in Faro, Portugal, where she has a home, for emergency intestinal surgery. 'The surgery went well and she is now recuperating. 'We know that all of her family, friends and fans will be concerned about this news and will be wishing her well for a full and swift recovery.' She was said to have been 'stable' in an intermediate care unit at Faro Hospital before an apparent worsening of her health led to her being transferred to intensive care. On June 15, the singer's team said she had woken up from a medically induced coma after suffering a cardiac arrest in Portugal a month previously. They said at the time: 'Bonnie is no longer in a coma, but remains seriously ill. Although her condition is improving, the recovery process is slow.' Sources said she had been maintaining her professional activity in the run-up to being taken to hospital, despite complaining of persistent pain for several weeks. Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping blood, causing it to stop beating and disrupting oxygen flow to the body and brain. It causes instant unconsciousness and collapse. Immediate action involving starting CPR and using a defibrillator where available is essential to prevent death. A ruptured appendix is a severe medical emergency requiring immediate surgical intervention and antibiotics to prevent fatal infections. When an infected appendix ruptures, it creates a hole and causes fecal matter and bacteria to leak into the abdominal cavity. On Thursday, it was announced that the pop star died just months after she was treated in intensive care after being placed in an induced coma following an emergency intestinal surgery. Bonnie's death was announced in a statement by her 'heartbroken' family and team on her website on Friday, which said she died in hospital in Portugal. The statement said: 'Bonnie's family and team are heartbroken to announce that Bonnie unexpectedly passed away last night in hospital in Portugal as a result of the illness that she was being treated for.'