Candice Warner to release tell-all memoir Running Strong

Candice Warner is finally ready to tell her own story, penning a “warts and all” memoir in which she lifts the lid on every high, low and headline throughout her life.

Candice Warner is finally ready to own her story.

The celebrated athlete, mum and wife of Australian cricket star Dave Warner has penned a tell-all memoir, Running Strong.

“I feel like I am confident to have a voice now,” Warner told The Daily Telegraph.

“I haven’t always felt like we were living in a society where women could speak up and tell their story and now I feel comfortable in doing that.”

Warner’s book will be released in April through Harper Collins Australia.

Running Strong by Candice Warner

“It is raw, emotional, heartfelt, just a warts and all book,” she explained.

“It is a story of a young girl growing up with a dream and aspirations, a girl that grew up in Maroubra, a very working class suburb that had to fight and someone who made mistakes along the way and overcame them. It is a story about facing adversity and triumphing, messing up and finding my way and then finding love.”

Nothing is off limits, meaning Warner will detail some of the more difficult times in her life,

“I touch on absolutely everything, every single thing from the Clovelly Hotel incident to South Africa,” she said.

“Anything that you have seen in a headline, it will be talked about. It is something that I have wanted to do for a while but it has never been the right time.”

Candice Warner is ready to tell her story. Credit: Alana Landsberry

Candice Warner. Credit: Alana Landsberry

Warner was referring to an encounter in a Clovelly pub between herself – long before she was married – and footballer Sonny Bill Williams, which was made public and fuelled ruthless gossip for years.

It was later brought up again by South African fans when Warner’s husband represented Australia there in 2018 – the tour that also gave rise to the infamous ‘Sandpapergate’ incident.

Warner concedes she spent many years “guarded and scared” to tell her story.

It was appearing on reality TV series, SAS Australia, that helped her overcome that fear.

“Prior to SAS, no one gave me an opportunity or wanted to hear from me because of the judgement that I’d faced for many years,” she said.

“On SAS I got to just be raw and it gave me the opportunity for people to see me for who I was. I had my walls up because I had to protect myself and my family, I didn’t know any other way. I copped criticism, abuse, headlines, and when you go through those times and experiences, you put a wall up to protect yourself and the people around you.”

With the walls crumbling, Warner feels a sense of relief. Writing the book, she said, “was like therapy”.

“I feel like I am not carrying this big weight on my shoulders,” she said.

“Because I can verbalise things now and I do have a voice, I feel I don’t have to hold things in or be scared to have an opinion. I feel free of that heaviness and that burden.”

Running Strong by Candice Warner is available for pre-order now at Dymocks.