Kip Wightman chooses NRL Grand Final over lunch with girlfriend’s family

Brisbane radio star Kip Wightman has revealed how the Broncos making it to the grand final has caused problems in his personal life.

Brisbane radio star Kip Wightman has revealed he put off his first meeting with his girlfriend’s family because of the Broncos charge to the NRL grand final.

The much-anticipated gathering, scheduled six weeks in advance, was meant to be the first formal introduction between Wightman’s family and that of his girlfriend Nyomie Essa.

Kip Wightman and Nyomie Essa. Picture: Claudia Baxter

Nyomie’s mother Pearl had organised the gathering, hoping to host 12 attendees for a memorable meal.

But Wightman told co-host Robin Bailey that when he realised the gathering would coincide with the NRL grand final, he had to put his passion for football first.

“I’m driving, and I say “We’ve got a bit of a problem Pearl, Broncos are in the grand finals”.

“I said, ‘the problem is it’s on Sunday’ and she’s still sitting there saying ‘Oh, that’s good’, like ‘No Pearl, It’s on the same day as your lunch, we can’t have the lunch’,” Wightman said.

Wightman began dating Essa in 2021, previously telling The Courier-Mail that she was an “absolute godsend”

“We’ve been friends for years through mutual friends,” he said.

“We saw each other out running and decided to start running together – then running and eating Thai, then just eating Thai.”