Bryan Brown opens up about bizarre Northern Beaches COVID rumour

Bryan Brown has opened up about a bizarre rumour linking him and his wife Rachel Ward to the Avalon virus outbreak.

Actor Bryan Brown has spoken out after he and his wife Rachel Ward were falsely linked to a COVID-19 outbreak in the Northern Beaches last year.

The Palm Beach star was the victim of online hate after it was claimed that he and Ward were responsible for the Avalon cluster after a spike in cases resulted in new restrictions and lockdown.

Premiere Palm Beach. Rivoli Cinema Camberwell Bryan Brown and Rachel Ward PICTURE: FIONA HAMILTON PHOTOGRAPHY/SUPPLIED

“I’m not on social media so I didn’t know anything about it until suddenly I was getting phone calls from everyone,” Brown told Confidential.

It was falsely claimed that Brown, 73, and Ward, 63, had caught a strain of the virus from the US after a recent trip and that it was spread after personal training class at their home with a trainer from Anytime Fitness Avalon.

“It was a load of rubbish ... I have no idea how this started,” Brown said.

“I haven’t been overseas in 18 months. I didn’t have COVID-19. I don’t have a personal trainer. I don’t live on the Northern Beaches. I have no idea how it happened.”

At the time, Ward also set the record straight on social media.

“Just to set the record straight. I haven’t been to US for over 5 yrs [sic],” she wrote on Instagram.

“I don’t have a personal trainer. I’ve been in mid north coast for past 10 days. I don’t have Covid. Pic taken 15 mins ago. Pick on another witch.”

The couple once owned a home north of Avalon but moved to Inner West.

Before he got his big break in Hollywood, Brown grew up in Panania and now works closely with youth from the area who are in the performing arts.