'Faith and forgiveness' saved showband star's marriage

Margaret Jennings meets showband star Eileen Reid, who talks candidly about past infidelities and her loyal husband who she regards as a living saint.

The piled-high blonde beehive that made singer Eileen Reid famous back in the 60s when she fronted The Cadets showband, may be long gone, but the memory of that time — and her dramatic reconnection with God, because of her “sinning” ways, are as vivid as if they happened yesterday.

Aged 74 next month and a grandmother of six, she has made no secret of the fact that after marrying one of the band, Jimmy Day, at the age of 25, she had extramarital affairs from the late 1970s to the ’90s, which left her feeling “sinful” and “rotten to the core”, until she discovered Jesus Christ in a meaningful way.