Tinder let down to true love: Jett Kenny gets candid about the girl who stole his heart
After a difficult few years dealing with family tragedy and personal injury, Sunshine Coast ironman Jett Kenny says he has found love and happiness with partner Lily Brown.
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For the first summer since he can remember, Jett Kenny is not rolling out of bed and rushing to his post at Mooloolaba Beach by 7am.
The prominent surf lifesaver, 29, typically mans the flags each summer. Long, hot days of keeping holiday swimmers out of strife.
But surgery on a long-term shoulder injury in November has forced him to take a rare summer away from life guarding duties, focusing on a four-month rehabilitation ahead of a busy 2024 season.
But with his three young nephews – sons of older sister Morgan Gruell – all under one roof on the Sunshine Coast for the holidays – sleep-ins remain elusive.
“Early is the norm for us,” Kenny laughs, chatting with Qweekend from the busy home shortly before Christmas, where he is spending quality time with his family and girlfriend, Lily Brown.
“But I’ve been able to enjoy the summer days. Any lifeguard will be able to appreciate not sitting on a beach from 7am until 6pm during summer because you’re not stressed for 11 hours of the day.
“It’s been very chilled for me, which has been nice. We (Lily and I) have been spending every moment we can with one another.”
It’s forced rest Kenny admits was needed after the last few years took a toll physically.
Born in Buderim, Jett – the youngest child of Olympic swimmer Lisa Curry and Olympian, ironman and surf lifesaving champion Grant Kenny – has been competing in the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships since 2009.
Having grown up in the spotlight, he was swooped on by a Brisbane modelling agency in 2016, rerouting his career into national modelling campaigns, Brisbane Fashion Festival runways and reality television call-ups.
Both his athletic and media worlds were reaching new heights when his family was ground to a halt in September 2020 by the loss of his older sister Jaimi, at just 33, which devastated the close family and particularly his parents, who are divorced but remain close.
After taking part in gruelling reality TV competition SAS Australia the following year, Kenny has since shattered his collarbone; it’s now pieced together with a plate and nine screws.
As 2023 rolled around, the injuries began to compound; there was a half-torn hamstring, an ankle avulsion fracture, and finally shoulder surgery after he filmed a new role on the rebooted Gladiators series. By December, Kenny was attempting a lazy jog when he heard the pop of his Achilles tendon.
“I couldn’t put any weight on my foot, so I had a nice, slow 3km walk home – 3km hobble, actually,” he explains.
“The forced rest has definitely been there this year. I love competing and I love racing. I love training as well – just because I love being fit and healthy. That’s my routine. I work, I train and I relax basically; that’s my life. And not being able to race or train has been a funny one.
“It could be a blessing in disguise,” he adds of the reset. “I’ve just got to look after my body better outside of competing. It’s more drive for me to come back bigger and better and stronger.”
His relationship with Brown – the pair celebrated their one-year anniversary in December – has been a steadying force. It has at least finally shaken the relentless taps on the shoulder to appear on reality dating shows.
“I didn’t actively go out seeking a relationship, myself or Lily,” Kenny explains.
“The reality dating shows, honestly, they’re not for me and I don’t think they’re for many people For me it was a case of you don’t go looking for it, it’ll happen naturally – and thankfully it did.”
Brown, a podcast host and founder of sleepwear label Chille, was helping Kenny, her friend of a few years, gently let down a persistent Tinder match in late 2022. The conversation quickly led to a date, which turned into many.
“It just works. We are so comfortable,” he says.
“She lives on the Gold Coast and I’m on the Sunshine Coast still, until we can figure out where we want to buy – do all that kind of stuff. For the interim it works. We are back and forth from one another’s place. But it’s good. Life is very good at the moment, and I wouldn’t have it any other way honestly.”
An offer to audition for Channel 10’s reboot of popular ’90s program Gladiators during the surf life saving off-season was a welcome change or Kenny and an opportunity to push his body in a new way – and it had nothing to do with dating.
As well as opening applications, producers sent out invitations to athletes from various sporting worlds to attend a mammoth audition process. Kenny is used to competition, but when he arrived at the auditions, flanked by intimidating crossfit athletes, champion bodybuilders and professional footballers, his confidence waned.
“There was a lot of people who did want to be in Gladiators and that was exciting because people weren’t just picked – you had to actually go and earn your spot on the team,” he recalls.
“Walking in the first time I was like, ‘I am not cut out for this.’ I was skinny and I was little in comparison to everyone else there. I thought, ‘I shouldn’t be here.’
“I remember talking to (my parents) afterwards and saying, ‘Oh everyone was pretty big and solid compared to me’, but they were pretty excited and they’re always supportive.”
Kenny won his way through the audition rounds and earned his place on the show – as the character, Viking. Having not competed in a contact sport since school rugby in 2005, he decided to up-end his training regimen, swap the beach for the gym, and add an extra 5kg of size to his usual competition weight of 88kg.
“To learn I was going to be one of the guys who had to go out there and tackle people and absolutely smash these contenders, it was like, ‘Alright, I have to change my training here’,” he says. “It’s a very different world from the surf lifesaving world …. it’s not like I’m on the footy field or have that brute strength that a lot of these crossfitters do, out there breaking world records for deadlifting and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I wear Lycra and a cap. Are there any events in the water?’
“The training was something completely different for me and I enjoyed it. It was a bit refreshing to do something different.”
Filming the show, weighing in at 93kg, Kenny’s competitive side kicked in again.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” he says. “The contenders had to go through testing as well … there were people there who weren’t that tall or weren’t that big but my god they were quick, they were fast on their feet and agile.
“But between us Gladiators we covered all of those windows that the contenders brought in and we covered all bases there. I’m definitely proud (of myself). I feel like bringing it back is such a big thing because so many people remember the show and they’re all adults now, potentially have kids, so it’s another generation to enjoy the show,” he adds.
“Having three nephews now it’s going to be pretty cool for them to watch me on TV … and who knows there might have to be some Viking school appearances.”
For the record, he didn’t get to keep the costume, but he’s confident his wardrobe is extensive enough to pull something together.
The different style of training has sparked a new desire for Kenny – including a return to soccer on the Sunshine Coast. A promising defender, he chose to give up the sport in 2012 after 10 years to focus on surf life saving.
“I wish I continued on with it to see what I could’ve done,” he says. “All through school I had that soccer and surf life saving flip, where I was playing soccer and competing, so one or the other was never getting repetitive or boring. Who knows, it could bring back the passion for both. For me it would start off as fun. But I just started watching A-league again and thought, ‘Is that even an option or looking elsewhere?’ At the moment, it’s in the future because I struggle to walk up the stairs right now.”
Kenny has a big year ahead with the national Surf Life Saving championships at home on the Sunshine Coast in April and the world titles on the Gold Coast in September. He hopes there will be a second season of Gladiators thrown into the mix. But whether he’s in Lycra and a cap, a Viking costume or soccer jersey, a relaxed and rested Kenny is ready to give it his all.
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