AFL icon Billy Brownless enjoying blossoming new romance

One of the AFL’s most loveable characters, whose private life has never been far from the spotlight, has stepped out with a new flame.

Football’s most loveable larrikin, Billy Brownless, is in the midst of a flourishing new romance.

The 57-year-old cult hero has been in a relationship with his new flame, Crystal, for the past two months, according to the Herald Sun.

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The pair were spotted at the September Club following the AFL Grand Final where Brownless spent time talking to his ex-wife Nicky Brownless and his former best mate Garry Lyon.

“We love our footy and racing,” Brownless told the Herald Sun.

“She doesn’t like to get in pictures but it’s going well and we’re going to the Geelong best and fairest on Thursday night.”

Billy with his daughter Ruby.

The blossoming new relationship comes after Brownless had stepped out with a lady friend, Lizzie, at the Australian Open in January.

Brownless and Lizzie also attended the Cirque du Soleil in March, but their romance didn’t last with no news on when they called it off.

That public display at the tennis came months after Brownless split with former partner Justine, who was the first woman Brownless was reported to have had a relationship with since his marriage to Nicky.

Brownless and Justine were dating for more than a year before their relationship came to an end in late 2023 and came years after his marriage breakdown.

Brownless and Nicky were together for 18 years before splitting in 2014. In 2016 Lyon’s friendship with Brownless fell apart after he went public with Nicky.

Nicky Brownless and Garry Lyon at the Australian Open. Tennis Australia/ FIONA HAMILTON

A month after their relationship made headlines, Billy revealed how the relationship had impacted his family, saying ‘a good mate wouldn’t do that’.

“I couldn’t believe it. I found out three or four months ago. I asked Garry and Nicky earlier on what is going on and they said they were just good friends,” he said on the Footy Show at the time.

“That’s what hurts the most.”

Brownless addressed the situation in 2020 during his time on Channel 10 reality show I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

“We separated about four years ago,” he said. “Had a big, big dust-up we did. It was public, very public.

“She just fell out of love, which happens. 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.”

Brownless added that Lyon and he were “not best mates … but one day I suppose we’ll sit down and have a beer, time heals”.

Time has healed the wounds with the former best mates reuniting on the airwaves in January as SEN celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Time heals all wounds. Picture: Supplied/Instagram

The pair have made peace in recent years, with the families even spending Christmases together.

Billy shares four children with Nicky, daughters Lucy and Ruby and sons Oscar and Max.

Lyon surprised Nicky in December, 2023 when he proposed and she said yes.

Nicky clearly wasn’t expecting the move, announcing the news of the engagement on her Instagram account, posting a black and white photo of the pair embracing with the caption “the best surprise”.

The duo, who have been together for eight years, took off to New York shortly after the proposal.

Their relationship has blossomed despite facing a series of public scandals right from the beginning.

Their wedding plans have not ben made public.

Originally published as AFL icon Billy Brownless enjoying blossoming new romance