‘Heartbreaking’: AFL great, Ch7 commentator’s wedding called off
The footy legend father of a Channel 7 star has gone public with the family’s heartbreak after his son’s wedding was suddenly called off.
AFL
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Essendon legend Tim Watson says his son Jobe’s wedding has been called off because of Cyclone Alfred.
The Channel 7 football analyst and fiance Virginia Slaghekke had been planning their special day for 18 months, but it has all fallen over suddenly because of the category 2 cyclone set to wreak havoc across the east coast of the country in coming days.
It has been a bitter blow for the family to deal with and breakfast radio host Tim on Wednesday said the news was still “raw” for the family.
The decision to cancel the wedding was made on the same day the AFL called off its season-opening matches in South East Queensland just days in advanced.
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The AFL made a call following advice from the Queensland government about public safety measures being put in place that would have made it impossible for the season-opening match between the Lions and Geelong in Brisbane on Thursday to go ahead.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is making landfall in Brisbane on Thursday. Massive waves, isolated rainfalls of up to 700mm and “damaging to destructive winds” are forecast to batter millions of residents.
Watson and breakfast radio co-host Garry Lyon said they are thinking of all the people caught up in the tropical storm.
Watson, however, was open to discuss the deeply private way he and his family have been affected.
“I had to cancel a lot of things yesterday because we had a very heartbreaking day in our family,” Watson said on his SEN Breakfast show in Melbourne.
“The wedding had to be postponed. We were all flying up to Queensland this weekend. And, oh my goodness, it has been a heartbreak of a last 24 hours for everybody. This is like the nail, in the coffin, if you want to use that term – which is probably a bit dramatic.”
Melbourne Demons legend and Fox Footy AFL 360 host Lyon said he wasn’t sure if his co-host was going to speak about the matter publicly.
“In the scheme of things you had to go through yesterday as a family, I didn’t know you wanted to talk about this publicly,” he said.
“So this is the point I’ve been trying to make for the last 24-48 hours of whether this game goes ahead or not. It’s big for footy, but not for life.”
Lyon went on to say: “Your poor son, and Virgina and the family, for 18 months have been preparing the wedding of their lifetime.
“Beautiful. Up in Noosa (on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast). This is close to our hearts as well because we have a wedding the following week that we hope and pray that everything is going to be OK.
“And you’ve had to call it off. Honestly, my heart goes out to you and your families. Because you’ve had people booked. And travelling. So I think the thing is, for you, the hip pocket is the least of your issues. We’ll get back to it.”
Watson mentioned the family’s pains were not as serious as things other families in Queensland and the north coast of NSW will face this week.
“Everyone will be fine,” he said of Jobe and the extended family.
“The whole thing is a little bit raw at the moment.”
Jobe, who famously had his Brownlow medal controversially taken away because of the Essendon doping scandal, confirmed in August that he and his Dutch model partner had set a date for March, 2025.
The former Essendon captain celebrated his 40th birthday in February.
The wedding is almost 10 years in the making. Watson and Slaghekke met in New York in 2016, wile the footballer had escaped Australia while serving his doping ban.
Watson was one of 34 players suspended after they were found to have taken banned substance AOD-9604 in 2012.
The couple, who are parents to three children named Juniper, Wolf, and Lilou, were engaged in September, 2023.
Originally published as ‘Heartbreaking’: AFL great, Ch7 commentator’s wedding called off
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