'Kick In The Guts': Billy Brownless Opens Up About Marriage Breakdown On 'I'm A Celebrity'
In Thursday's episode of 'I'm A Celebrity... Get me Out Of Here!' retired AFL star Billy Brownless opened up about his highly-publicised split with ex-wife Nicky in 2015.
Speaking to fellow campmate Rhonda Burchmore, the former Geelong player got candid on the split, which happened back in 2015 after Nicky had an affair with Billy's best friend and 'The Footy Show' colleague, Garry Lyon.
After Rhonda questioned whether Billy's "wife was ok with [him] coming over," Brownless went into detail about the split, describing the break-up as "a big, big dust up".
"I’m split, so we separated about four years ago," Brownless explained to the entertainer, adding, "Cos it was in the papers. It was public -- very public. Front pages and all that... We’d separated, which you know, surprised a few. She left me, really."
"She just fell out of love which happens," he added.
Informing Burchmore that he and Nicky had been married 18 years prior to the sudden split, Brownless continued, "I didn’t expect it. You think she’ll come back and all that -- but she didn’t, so that was a real kick in the guts."
"But then, you know, about a year later, she’s um, shacked up with one of my good mates. And he’s in the media too," he said, referring for former pal Lyon.
He concluded, "But It’s been four years now so you get through it you know. I reckon it takes you two years when you split, when you bounce back and to be yourself, you know?"
Brownless isn't the only jilted lover in the equation -- back in 2017, Lyon's ex-wife Melissa also spoke to the Herald Sun about her split with Lyon, where she insisted that Nicky "destroyed their marriage".
“We coexisted for a couple of years after I first found out. Things were amicable because I thought it had all stopped,” the 49-year-old told the newspaper.
She added, “I thought they knew it would all be too messy and they were smart. But yeah, they chose not to stop... I’m not going to lie, it still upsets me every day the thought of them together.”
As for Billy, upon entering the jungle he revealed to the Herald Sun that he had "moved on" from the saga -- and would even be open to finding love in the jungle.
"I might find myself, I might find love. There might be a rumble in the jungle, you never know," he told the publication.
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! airs Sunday to Thursday at 7.30 on 10 and 10 Play.
Image: Network 10