The musician and the artist on their fiery relationship, a dramatic flight to Ibiza, and Jack’s most annoying trait
Harriet Gibsone Sun 14 Jun 2026 15.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google Jack Savoretti and Jemma Powell about to kiss in 2007 and recreating the image in 2026 Jack Savoretti and Jemma Powell in 2007 and 2026. Later photograph: Pål Hansen/The Guardian. Styling: Andie Redman. Hair, makeup and grooming: Lou Blake. Archive photograph: Bob Callway Born in London in 1983, Jack Savoretti is a singer-songwriter who has released eight albums. He married the artist Jemma Powell in 2010. Powell grew up in Sussex and worked as an actor, appearing in films including The Hole and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Her new exhibition, with Mary West, Through the Eyes of the Eagle, is at the Chancery Rosewood hotel in London until 18 July. Savoretti tours his new album, We Will Always Be the Way We Were, throughout 2026. They live in Oxfordshire with their three children.
Jack and I had just met and were permanently attached to each other’s faces. It was the first music video of his I’d been in – I was an actor at the time, and furious that he was always auditioning my friends and not me. It took me getting a casting call for a Paolo Nutini video for him to panic and finally give me a part.
I was madly in love with Jack. I was mad, full stop. After meeting him, I lost the plot. We would have crazy fights, mainly centring around the intensity of how we felt about each other. We were young creatives trying to make our way in the world and really believed in each other. I’d go to his gigs in pubs and when people would walk in and say, “Who’s this guy?” I would reply, “He’s amazing. He’s going to be huge!” He was being rejected a lot, but I was – and still am – his number one fan.
We first met at a party. I got chatting to this lovely girl called Beatrice, and when I saw Jack come in, I said to her, “There’s a guy over there who I think is so gorgeous.” It turned out it was her brother. Jack and I hung out that night, and the next week he came to see me in the cafe I worked in. I remember being so red that I had to hug him so he couldn’t tell how embarrassed I was. He left, but I didn’t have his number so I visited the studio he was writing in. I knocked on the door of every single room and asked, “Is Jack here? He’s a singer, he’s Italian.” No one knew who he was, and I ended up getting fired from my cafe job as I’d told them I’d gone to post a letter but disappeared for too long.
Our marriage is often in a state of flux. There are times when he’s winning and needs to be strong for me, then it all switches around Thankfully, I got his number from a mutual friend, and our wild romance continued until we had our first child, six months after we got married. That’s not to say our marriage is always calm. It’s often in a state of flux. There are times when he’s winning and needs to be strong for me, then it all switches around. There was a point a few years ago when Jack was having a midlife crisis. He wasn’t happy. I ended up saying, “Whatever’s going on here, it’s not working for you.” After that he snapped out of it.
Jack’s most annoying trait is that he is a sulker. It can last for three days sometimes and I feel it in my body, in my cells, because silence is toxic. He used to say I was too detached. The problem was I gave up drinking for two years and became Mrs Perfect. A bit sanctimonious. I was the handbag finder at the end of the party and felt very proud of myself. Fortunately for him, I’ll drink now and again.
We have three kids, four dogs and a cat, so we have to make time for romance. I’ll sometimes make his favourite meal – some kind of pasta, a pomodoro or pesto. He did like my ragu but he’s gone off it a bit. It helps that we giggle a lot together, too.
Jack and I both work at home, at opposite ends, our creative spaces bookending the house. We constantly give each other feedback, and sometimes he’ll ask, “Can I play you something?” and I’ll reply, “I’ve heard it all day. I can sing it for you if you like?”
Even after all these years, I feel the same as I did in that picture. Only instead of being deranged, I am full of pride that those two crazy kids settled down and built a life together.
We were trying to capture a day in our life for the video for my song Dr Frankenstein. That kiss wasn’t a suggestion from the director. It was a genuine moment. I must have had great chat, because I somehow got away with that choker.
The night I met Jemma, I was very hungover from a boys’ weekend. I needed to go home, but when she walked in I thought, “There you are. The mother of my children. My future.” My sister said, “Did you see that girl that was sitting next to me? She thinks you’re really cute.”
When we were introduced, I asked what her job was, and she replied, “I’m a fairy.” I thought she was being eccentric, as it was a party filled with actors – a lot of dramatic people. She then expl…