Cricket staffer at the centre of Tim Paine sexting scandal demanded an apology and $40,000 before she ‘let it go and moved on’ – as the ex-captain claims it was his call to quit and coach Justin Langer begged him not to
- Staffer at centre of Tim Paine sexting scandal asked for apology and $40k costs
- Paine, 36, sent series of lewd pictures including ‘unsolicited’ picture of genitals
- He quit as captain of the Australian test team on Friday ahead of the Ashes
- Paine revealed coach Justin Langer begged him to stay on as captain of team
Tim Paine (pictured with wife Bonnie) revealed coach Justin Langer begged him to stay on as captain of the Australian test team
The woman Tim Paine sent a series of lewd messages and an explicit photo to demanded an apology and $40,000 to cover her legal costs.
Paine quit as captain of the Australian cricket team on Friday after it was revealed he shared a text exchange with a staffer in 2017 that included an ‘unsolicited’ picture of his genitals and ‘graphic sexual comments’.
An intermediary between the woman and Cricket Australia confirmed she reached out to them discreetly mid-2018 to first demand an apology, then wanted an apology and money to cover her legal fees – amounting to $40,000.
‘I indicated that it was her intention to keep the matter private and that she was seeking an apology from Cricket Tasmania and her legal fees reimbursed,’ Sean Mulcahy told The Age.
‘I told her that given the impending Ashes series, the severe fallout from the South Africa incident and subsequent sacking of then captain Steve Smith, that she could possibly command a large fee for her story. Her ultimate decision was to let the matter go and move on.’
Paine quit as captain of the Australian cricket team on Friday after it was revealed he shared a text exchange with a young staffer in 2017 that included an’ unsolicited’ picture of his genitals
Mr Mulcahy said it was never the woman’s ambition for the story to go public and denied she leaked it to the media last week.
‘It was always my understanding that she never wanted this matter to become public,’ he said.
‘She turned down the possibility of a big pay day to tell the story, yet she chose to stay quiet. I don’t believe she is the source of this story now being made public.’
Paine said in a tell-all interview with the Herald Sun alongside wife Bonnie that he feared the story would one day become public.
‘I thought the issue was dealt with, but it always popped up around a big series, or at the start of the cricket season,’ he said.
‘Over the last three years, there have been numerous times where media agencies have put to us that they had evidence, yet they never chose to write it.
‘As to why, I’m not sure, but nobody else had chosen to write the story, but I knew it was going to come out at some point, as much as I didn’t want it to.’
When the messages finally came to light last week, Paine resigned as Australian Test captain at a tearful press conference on Friday.
The 36-year-old revealed the team’s national coach Justin Langer was ‘devastated’ and tried to convince him to stay on as captain of the side
He insisted that it was his decision alone to step down and the team’s national coach Justin Langer was ‘devastated’ and tried to convince him to stay on.
‘He was pretty firm that he wanted me to continue as captain, and again, once I explained to him the reasons that I thought resigning was the best thing to do, he was with me all the way,’ Paine said.
‘I’ve got messages from all my teammates saying they’ve got my back, and that we all make mistakes, and we move on.’
Paine said he would regularly talk with the woman about cricket-related things until one day it took a ‘flirtatious’ turn.
Paine, who guided Australia to the Ashes in England in 2019, announced he was stepping down as captain in a tearful press conference on Friday
‘There was nothing unusual about it. But then, one text was sent that was a little open-ended, and it became a flirtatious exchange that should never have,’ he said.
The former test captain said he informed his wife of the 2017 exchange as soon as it was made known to Cricket Tasmania in mid-2018, which shook the foundations of their marriage.
‘As soon as a complaint was lodged. I told her everything. I admitted to all of it. As hard as that was, it was the best thing I did,’ Paine said.
Bonnie said she has ‘a lot of sympathy’ for her husband and said the pair overcame his betrayal, despite her considering leaving him at the time.
‘I had mixed emotions, and I felt betrayed, and I felt hurt, upset and I felt pissed off, I also had feelings of gratitude because he was being so honest with me. I thought, OK, do I walk? Or forgive and rebuild? I chose the latter,’ she told the Herald Sun.
‘It was hard, he has forgiven me for things, and people have forgiven me in my past, so I just felt I owed it to Tim to try and forgive.’
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