Shane Warne was known and revered as one of his generation’s greatest cricket stars.
However, off the pitch, he was a devoted father-of-three with a storied relationship history, which included a high-profile relationship with Elizabeth Hurley.
The Australian cricket legend’s death at the age of 52 was announced by his management, who said he was found following a suspected heart attack.
‘Despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived.
‘The family requests privacy at this time and will provide further details in due course,’ they said.
Warne leaves behind the three kids he shares with his ex-wife Simone Callahan.
The couple was married between 1995 and 2005.
In January this year, Callahan reflected on their marriage in a documentary for Amazon Prime.
She recalled relocating her life to the UK to support her husband in his career, along with their children Brooke, now 24, Jackson, now 22, and Summer, now 19.
‘We were going to set up a life in England,’ she said.
‘I had done the whole school, “See you later,” had the goodbyes, had the farewells, “Kids, we’re moving to England…”‘
But after she landed, there was an influx of stories about her husband being unfaithful.
‘It was a succession of papers of Shane’s with this one, Shane’s with that one, Shane’s with this one, and that as pretty much the first week when I was in England with the kids and my life was pretty much turned on its head,’ Simone recalled.
‘It was heartbreaking, of course, I just didn’t want to be in England. I had to come home. It wasn’t even a two-week turnaround before I came back to Australia.’
Eldest daughter Brooke also got emotional, saying it was ‘the first time I had seen dad in a bad light’ and her whole image of him had been ‘broken.’
Warne added that the impact the media frenzy had on his children was what he struggled with most, as he found it hard to concentrate on the Ashes.
Elsewhere in the documentary, he clarified: ‘Cricket was always my number one priority. That doesn’t mean I didn’t value my family, but they were second.’
He added: ‘To be as good as I was, I had to be selfish at times – and most of the time I was.’
In 2021, Warne opened up about how ‘bloody hard’ he found it being a single dad while playing cricket internationally before he retired in 2013.
He spoke to the Herald Sun about parenting Brooke, Summer and Jackson – then aged eight, six and four – after his divorce.
‘I always made their lunches, walked them to school, took them to sport, etc. It was bloody hard – being a single parent is difficult, but fun too. I’m so glad they are 19, 21 and 23 now,’ he said.
He was also asked about being single at the time, saying he failed to understand why he was unable to ‘have some consensual fun with someone that I meet’ without details being sold for a story.
Following a series of rumours of him cheating, he revealed he does not ‘go out too much anymore.’
The sports star was subject to a number of personal scandals during his life, with several involving him sending text messages to married women.
Following a series of high-profile marital infidelities, Warne was photographed kissing actress Elizabeth Hurley in 2010.
Warne later announced via his Twitter account that he and Callahan had separated, but only his close friends and family knew.
His relationship with Hurley seemed short-lived for a while, following reports of cheating.
However, the couple moved in together in Warne’s Brighton mansion, and a media storm ensued.
The stars confirmed their engagement in late 2011.
However, in December 2013, WHO magazine reported that they had ‘called off’ their marriage.
Last year, the cricketer took to Twitter to vent his frustrations after Woman’s Day magazine published an article suggesting he and Hurley had rekindled their romance.
‘For 30 years my children & I have had to put up with your lies & fabricated stories – well not anymore,’ he wrote.
‘You should not be allowed to just make things up. You are going to apologise to the Aust public for your continual lies & my family as this is an absolute disgrace – AGAIN!
‘And for the small minority out there that want to reply with smart arse comments – imagine what it would be like if someone continually made up stories about you & put it in the public domain for 30 years & the effects that has on your mental health and your families!’
Warne had previously spoken about the ‘absolute circus’ that was his relationship with the actress.
They ended their engagement following a chaotic trip to Sydney, with Warne later saying: ‘We couldn’t go anywhere else because we’d just get 30-40 people, photographers, news crews, everywhere we went.’
‘We had seven cars following us and a helicopter over our head just following us, running red lights, cutting off in front of us,’ he added/
‘[I’m] quite sad it’s over because I still care about her deeply and she’s a wonderful person.’
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