Craig Lowndes reveals Instagram love affair nearly cost him his marriage

V8 racing icon Craig Lowndes said he is determined to get his marriage back on track after a three-year online affair.

Racing car legend Craig Lowndes says he is determined to get his marriage back on track after a three-year social media affair with a woman he never met.

Lowndes, 47, was briefly kicked out of the house after his wife Lara became aware of the online relationship earlier this year.

The V8 racing icon said he met the woman through Instagram at a time when he was in a “bad place” and is now “getting help” after ending things in April.

Since then the Lowndes’ claim they have been “tormented” by the individual and say police involvement is “not out of the question”.

Racing car legend Craig Lowndes says he is determined to get his marriage back on track after a three-year social media affair with a woman he never met. Picture: AAP Image/Sean Garnsworthy

The V8 racing icon said he met the woman through Instagram at a time when he was in a “bad place” but ended things in April and is now “getting help”, and “committed” to his marriage to wife Lara (right). Picture: Toby Zerna

Craig Lowndes with his wife Lara at the Mount Panorama Racing Circuit in Bathurst. Picture: Tim Hunter

“For me … I’m ashamed to be talking to you about this, it’s very sensitive to myself and Lara,” Lowndes said.

“Basically, I was in a bad place, but I’m not in that place anymore. I’m getting help. It is what it is, but I can honestly say Lara knows all about this and this third person is no longer in my life.

“Lara and I still live together, we had some time apart, but now we are committed to working through it all.

“Social media is an evil thing at times, it can be very beneficial, but it can also be very evil … we don’t even know this isn’t a catfish.”

Mrs Lowndes said: “Some of the s**t we’ve received is out of control, we have been tormented. It’s f***ing hard.”

The seven-time Bathurst 1000 winner and the woman sent messages back and forth over text and from his official @CraigLowndes888 Instagram account.

He discussed his marital issues with the woman and at one point told her “I would rather be with you”.

In the wake of Lowndes ending their relationship in April, the couple say the woman began to harass them, even going as far as to create multiple online accounts and send abusive messages to the wife of the Ford and Holden legend.

As part of the painful saga images were also circulated showing Mrs Lowndes nursing a severely bruised and bandaged eye.

But she insists her husband has never been violent towards her and the police were never called.

“Marriages go through hard times, I would not wish on anybody what our marriage has gone through recently, it has been tough, but I’m standing by Craig,” Mrs Lowndes said.

“I fell and I hit my face … Craig and I were having words, but I certainly do not want it being misconstrued (as domestic violence).

“He did not strike me with his fist or anything like that.

“There are so many people out there at the moment that are going through tough times, and are in different and challenging situations … (so) I really don’t want to downplay domestic violence, it’s a huge epidemic, but it’s not right here.”

Lowndes says the woman was a “big fan” who he got lured in by.

“She was a big fan that I got suckered into having an initial conversation with online,” he said.

“Mentally I wasn’t in a good place, those messages that I sent, I personally believed they were between that third party and myself, and I still stand by the fact that I have never met this person physically … I haven’t.”

“Marriages go through hard times, I would not wish on anybody what our marriage has gone through recently, it has been tough, but I‘m standing by Craig,” Mrs Lowndes said. Picture: Tim Hunter

“Social media is an evil thing at times, it can be very beneficial, but it can also be very evil,” Lowndes warned. Picture: Tim Hunter

In a series of messages between himself and the other woman, Lowndes expressed his desire to be with her.

“I’d love to sit opposite you and look into your eyes and soul,” he wrote in one message.

“Wow that’s deep,” she said.

“So is my love for you baby. I want to start to show that side of me … I want you to know how much I love you,” he replied.

When asked why they never met in person, Lowndes cited the fact they lived interstate and also that he was married.

Lowndes said with their marriage again going well, the priority now moving forward is each other and also his children Levi and Chilli, who he had with his ex-wife Natalie.

“It‘s been a pretty tricky six months or thereabouts, we’ve been going through an incredibly challenging time in our marriage,” Mrs Lowndes said.

“Craig and I independently have both been getting the support that we need, in speaking to someone, and from our family and friends.

“It‘s been a really horrid period in our life which we’re just trying to move on from and get this toxicity out of our life.”