Brendan Fevola left his Melbourne breakfast radio co-hosts stunned with a massive on-air reveal on Tuesday morning.
The former AFL star recalled a recent incident to Fifi Box, Nick Cody and The Fox show’s anchor, Josiah Shala, when he had a visit from the sheriff’s office for almost $26,000 in outstanding toll fines.
“They say ‘You’ve got 79 outstanding arrest warrants’,” he recalled.
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“And I was like, ‘sorry, what?’ Because I went bankrupt in 2011 or 2012, so I just assumed all your stuff gets wiped and I didn’t have any warrants or parking fines but this is what it dates back to – like 13 years ago.
“I asked how much it was, and he said the outstanding warrant that you have to pay right now on the spot, ‘You owe $25,945’.”
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Fevola’s co-stars each looked equally horrified by the number. Cody said it sounded like a scam but the footballer insisted it was accurate.
“It’s written right there – it’s all tolls from when I was driving to Yarrawonga, and stuff,” he said.
The father-of-four asked what would happen if he couldn’t pay the almost $26,000 straight away and was told a sheriff’s officer would enter the house to take items they believed would add up to that value as collateral until the figure was paid off.
He told his co-stars he had to go back inside the house and pull his partner, Alex, out of a business meeting to discuss the issue as she handles their finances.
The 43-year-old described Alex’s reaction to the news, saying “she was absolutely filthy”.
“They said if we can’t find something in your house that’s to the equivalent of 26k, then we’ll take you and Alex goes, ‘Oh well, how long will you take him for?'” he said with a laugh.
“And they said 60 days, and I contemplated it.”
In the end Alex paid on her bankcard after they wouldn’t let her use a credit card that would give her points for the payment.
Brendan and Alex first married in 2005 but split in December 2006 following allegations of infidelity, so they were not together during the time the Carlton and Brisbane Lions player had declared his bankruptcy.
In a March 2011 tell-all interview with The Footy Show the AFL star revealed the depths of his gambling addiction - admitting he’d lost $365,000 gambling on horses in a single day, with close to $1 million blown on gambling over time.
Brendan and Alex reignited their love story after their divorce was finalised in 2014 and got engaged again in 2016.
In November 2018 the couple were surprised to welcome daughter Tobi – now six – who joined daughters Leni and Lulu, as well as Mia, Alex’s daughter from a previous relationship.
Announcing the pregnancy on-air in May 2018, Fev told his then co-hosts the news was very unexpected.
“We got an 18 [year old] … we’ve got a 12-year-old and we have an eight-year-old. So we’d shut up shop, I didn’t think it worked anymore, that it was all done and dusted,” he said at the time.
If you have a problem with gambling help is available. Contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or Gamblers Anonymous www.gaaustralia.org.au or Gambleaware 1800 858 858