Braith Anasta on his split with wife Jodi Gordon: ‘We’ve grown apart’ and want different things

BRAITH Anasta talks for the first time about his painful public split with wife Jodi Gordon, saying they grew apart and wanted different things, including whether to have more children.

BRAITH Anasta has been bred tough. He endured the suicide of his father at the age of 15 and played rugby league at the highest level for 16 years under the watchful eye of his adoring mum Kim.

But there’s no doubt the newly ­single dad has faced his toughest days in recent months with the very public breakdown of his marriage to model and actress Jodi Gordon and the sudden heart attack suffered by his mum.

Anasta described a few harrowing months he is now putting behind him for the sake of his mum and gorgeous little girl Aleeia.

“Yeah it’s been tough,” he said.

“It’s never ideal when this happens, it’s a tough situation and you never ­imagine it happening to you. We’ve been dealing with the break-up of a marriage, the media speculation and parenting our little girl.

“Our break-up did not come out of the blue. We had both seen it coming for a while, we’d grown apart over the last little while and the reality was that it wasn’t working. We tried very hard but it wasn’t to be.

“Now, though, our priority is maintaining a good friendship. Aleeia is such a happy little girl. We don’t want that to change.”

An Instagram post of Braith with his Aleeia.

Jodi and Braith Anasta, with their daughter Aleeia, before they split.

For all of the tough times in recent weeks, Anasta remains incredibly upbeat about his life.

He shares custody of Aleeia with Jodi and hopes that happy situation continues.

She will start preschool in Sydney’s eastern suburbs next week and Braith wants to be close by for his little girl.

“I think Jodi did sacrifice her ­career for me when we got married and I’m very grateful for that,” he said.

“I wanted more kids and it wasn’t for her at that time in her life. I still want a big family although there’s nobody on the horizon at the ­moment. I just love Aleeia so much and what she has brought to our lives.”

Braith says he and Jodi will remain friends, especially for their daughter. Picture: Instagram

Anasta and Gordon married in Bali in a blaze of publicity in 2013, an outwardly perfect match between the rising FoxSports football commentator Anasta and the beautiful actress Gordon.

Gordon’s career and social media profile burgeoned, with the model signing up for lucrative new contracts and several ambassadorial roles for high-end brands.

She now boasts 156,000 Instagram followers and regular followers who viewed her Instagram account would have been excused for thinking the pair were blissfully happy. Photographs of the couple’s brunette toddler Aleeia feature on the account, reflecting what many thought was a happy family life.

The couple during happier times in their marriage. Picture: Instagram

The pair are jointly managed by celebrity agent Sean Anderson, who saw them as a high-profile couple in strong demand with high-profile fashion and sporting clients. But it all went awry late last year.

In an emotional interview, Braith admitted the cracks started appearing well before the official announcement of the separation.

“Both of us still have a good relationship. We want to maintain that for the sake of our little girl and do the best possible for her in a tough situation,” he said.

Braith Anasta moved back in with his mum Kim after the split.

Anasta moved in with his mum, Kim, when the marriage collapsed, after she suffered a heart attack.

The family home has recently sold but Anasta is in no rush to change his new domestic situation,

Anasta broke down as he told of his mother’s health and the impact it had on him at a very difficult time for the family.

“I just thought it would be good for all of us for me to move in there,” he said.

“I wanted to be there for her, for her to be the great grandmother that she is to our little girl. Like all of us, she was very upset when we broke up. This hasn’t been easy for her. I just thought Christmas would be better if we were there together.

“She brought me up on her own and I always get emotional when I talk about that. I’m really close to my mum and watching her hurting is what gets me the most.”

His role at FoxSports has ­expanded enormously in recent seasons and he is now the leading football commentator on live matches.

Braith looking buff after his split with Jodi.

Hosting is not far away and keen observers of the game believe Anasta is the Next Big Thing on our rugby league coverage.

“I am just so passionate about the footy commentary and what I can do to improve” he said. “I’ve always had an opinion on things related to footy so this is the perfect outlet for me. Even as a kid I was into watching the footy and always had a view on what was happening.

“This year I’m working with ­Sterlo (Peter Sterling), doing more hosting. That’s my end game. I relish the chance to front the coverage. We have eight live games each weekend so there’s a lot of work there.”

His brief footy comeback will come in the Auckland Nines next month so he now finds himself back in full training with the Roosters. He’s physically fit but playing league again is a different matter.

“I’ve been training hard for eight months but I’m trying hard now to get back into the physicality of it, the ­acceleration, which I was never that good at anyway.”