Billy Brownless says he and Garry Lyon are finally in a good place after their public fallout
Five years after Garry Lyon ran off with his wife in the love scandal that rocked footy, Billy Brownless says their relationship has taken a turn. He reveals where things stand with his kids, his ex-wife and former best mate, while Sam Newman reveals exclusive details about their renewed friendship.
Confidential
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Billy Brownless says he’s finally in a good place with Garry Lyon and suggested they might even return to being great mates again.
The pair, who were close friends and both worked on The Footy Show, f ell out five years ago after it emerged Lyon was in a relationship with Nicky Brownless.
After their public falling out, Brownless said it’s taken time but he’s finally in a “good spot” with Lyon and Nicky, his ex-wife and mother of their four children.
“At the time you go through all different emotions of course,’’ Brownless told Sam Newman and Don Scott on their You Cannot Be Serious podcast.
“Why me, a bit of hatred of course. But now mate, it’s been four or fives years I’ve come around and everyone is in a good spot to be honest. Garry and Nicky are (together), that’s fine. The kids are (fine).
“That was the other big problem. Young Maxy was about 10, Oscar was about 14, the girls (Lucy and Ruby) were 16, 17.
“It was so public that was the biggest problem. It was so public. On TV, in the papers, front page of the Geelong Addy.
“It was hard at the time because it was so public. I’d walk into a coffee shop and I’d swear everyone was looking at me and talking about it and they weren’t.
“We’ve spoken a couple of times.”
When Newman asked if it could again be the same relationship between him and Lyon, Brownless replied: “Probably (not the same) but it might be. There’s no Christmas cards yet but we have spoken. The kids live with Garry and Nicky and things like that.
“There’s no problems, we’re in a good space, he’s in a good space, Nicky is, the kids are and so am I. But that’s taken time. It has. Someone told me two (years) but two wasn’t right.
“Then people have got to take sides, your friends, the in-laws, your really close friends. “Which side do they go with and your kids. It’s interesting times.”
Newman told the Herald Sun he believed Brownless and Lyon were “good friends” now.
“Those two people are great friends of mine and Garry was as good a operator on live television as I ever worked with. He was fantastic along with James Brayshaw.
“And when he left for you know, that personal reason, of course I was disappointed.
“I think time is a great healer, I think that they’re pretty good friends now. And they were very good friends beforehand and it’s always a bit of a shock and a bit of a jolt, personal things that overflow into the public arena particularly on a show like The Footy Show.”
Former Geelong star Brownless said he felt The Footy Show was like a family and he had learned a lot from Newman.
“Thank god I did that (show). I really enjoyed that,’’ Brownless said.
“We were like a family to be honest. We were all good friends and used to look after one another and we’d all laugh at one another’s jokes and help each other out. It was a good family.
“Believe it or not we’ve all learned from Sam over the years.
“He would say what do you want me to do, how far do you want to go and was an actual team player which I don’t think he was when he played footy. And that’s where we all learnt from believe it or not.”