Brendan Fevola reveals one thing that saved him from rock bottom

A decade after Brendan Fevola was admitted to a mental health clinic he’s revealed the one thing that turned his life around.

Brendan Fevola has paid tribute to the love of his life Alex for setting him on the right path and supporting him during tough times.

Ten years on from the brink of despair when he was admitted to a mental health clinic in

Queensland, the former footy star is the happiest he’s been.

The 40 year-old, who battled depression and gambling and alcohol addiction, said Alex is the reason he has become a success as a father of four daughters and a popular radio personality.

“This sounds corny but it’s Alex, if I didn’t have her I don’t know where I’d be,’’ Fevola told the Talking in Common podcast with Kate Gudinski and Sophie Panton, out on Monday.

“She’s been my guide and my rock.

“She knows what I’m going to say before I even say it.

“I lived up in Yarrawonga for a long time (playing footy). I went bankrupt from the punt so we had to pay a lot of money. She was living with her mum, I was living up in Yarrawonga, she was paying my rent, I drove a little RAV4 she owned.

Brendan and Alex Fevola. Pic: Lucas Dawson.

Mia and Brendan Fevola.

“We weren’t even together and she was still supporting me.

“For someone to do that, she’s an amazing woman and I’m very lucky to have her.

“We’ve been through a lot of crap but to get to the other side and still have what we have, it’s meant to be. God knows where I’d be without her. Everything that’s happened to me that’s good is because of her.”

Fevola, who works on the FOX FM breakfast show Fifi, Fev and Nick, and then is a stay at home dad, said being there for his children — Mia, Leni, Lulu and Tobi — was his greatest joy.

The former Carlton and Brisbane forward married Alex in 2005, divorced in 2014, rekindled and became engaged in 2016.

“Alex and I separated in 2012 and Alex started up her own business called Runway Room and she did that off scratch because I’d lost everything like a moron,’’ Fevola said.

“She did that off her own bat and when we got back together I didn’t have a job so I was the stay at home dad and I did the cooking and cleaning and school drop while Alex was off making money which she did and she was very successful in that aspect.

“I got to feel how hard it was to be a full time parent.

Alex, Brendan and Tobi Fevola.

“I learnt the hard way and I love that she’s a business woman and (I say) you go off and do what you need to do hun, because you let me do that when I was playing footy.

“I’m lucky to stay at home. I leave early in the morning and do miss the breakfasts and the lunches and the drop off, but I get to go home with my two year old Tobi and hang out with her all day.”

Fevola added: “Girls are the best and they’re so easy and I think the girls will love their father later in life. The father daughter thing is special.

“Getting married is fun but having the birth of your children is by far the greatest day of your life.”

Fevola is the first male guest on the Talking in Common podcast. Other upcoming season two guests include actors Elsa Pataky, Asher Keddie and Stephanie McIntosh.