Source : PERTHNOW NEWS
Gary Numan thinks the way he met his wife is probably “illegal” now.
The 68-year-old singer’s spouse Gemma O’Neill – who is 10 years his junior – was one of his fans and a regular at his gigs in the 90s, which was how they first struck up a rapport.
He told The Times newspaper: “That’s how I attracted her, which I think is illegal now.”
When the Cars hitmaker heard Gemma’s mother had died, he managed to track her down via his own fan club.
He explained: “I used the fan club to get her phone number. I rang her up and said, ‘Hello, it’s me,’ and she put the phone down — she thought it was somebody playing a cruel trick.”
But Gary called again, and Gemma gave him a quiz to prove his identity before he suggested he join her on a road trip to a radio interview to distract her from her grief, and they have been together ever since, marrying in 1997 and going on to have three daughters, Raven, 23, Persia, 21, and Echo, 19.
He recalled: “I took her to a Little Chef because I’m very down to earth. I don’t do all that flash, rich man, pop star stuff.”
The Are “Friends” Electric? singer was diagnosed with Asperger’s, a form of autism, as a teenager, but he didn’t think about his diagnosis much until later in his life and he praised Gemma for helping him navigate the world.
He said: “I thought everyone was odd except for me, because people would react in ways that I didn’t understand…
“[Years later] Gemma started talking about Asperger’s and I went, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve got that.’
“[She would] let me know when I was being Asperger’s-y [ in public] with a kick under the table or a squeeze on the arm.
“[I know how] that when I meet somebody for the first time I should probably ask what they do for a living because that shows interest. I said to my kids a few months ago, ‘I don’t think I have it any more. I don’t think anyone would tell.’ Persia said, ‘You’re f****** joking.’”
Gary believes there is a connection between his autism and passion for technology.
He said: “I see personality in machine.”
Of his days flying planes, he added: “I developed a very close relationship with the airplane, which sounds weird. It’s not like I wanted to have sex with it or marry it, but I talked to it and I would always say thank you at the end of the flight.
“My relationships with people are different. If someone lets me down, that person ceases to exist. Gemma says, ‘How can you do that? They’ve been your friend for years.’ Well, they let me down.”
