‘The best surprise’: Garry Lyon, Nicki Brownless announce engagement

One of the footy world’s most talked about couples – Garry Lyon and Nicky Brownless – are engaged and about to jet off on a romantic holiday in New York.

Garry Lyon and Nicky Brownless are jetting off to New York after announcing their engagement.

Garry Lyon and Nicky Brownless are engaged.

Once one of the footy world’s most talked about couples, the pair has been together for almost eight years and locked in their love at the weekend.

“The best surprise,’’ Brownless captioned on a picture of the pair, tagging them in New York, where the couple is holidaying.

It’s believed the AFL great popped the question on their Mornington Peninsula property, with their initials and a love heart lit up on a field.

Nicky Brownless and Garry Lyon

Brownless was married to former Geelong star and media favourite Billy Brownless for 18 years and they share four children — Lucy, Ruby, Oscar and Max.

Lyon, a former Demons captain, has three children from his previous marriage.

The couple was thrust into the spotlight in 2016 when Billy was left heartbroken after learning Nicky had got together with his then best friend Lyon.

Following a flurry of headlines and difficult times, they have all since repaired their relationships and have spent the past few Christmas Days together as a family.

Brownless and Lyon keep a relatively low profile and are rarely pictured out and about together.

Billy Brownless and Garry Lyon spent Christmas 2022 together with Nicky, Lucy, Ruby, Oscar and Max Brownless and Paddy McCartin and Josh Wallis. Picture: Instagram

But they were in Perth last month for the wedding of James Brayshaw and Lisa Christie.

Their engagement comes after Ruby became engaged to her partner, Josh Wallis, in December last year. They intend to marry in 2025.

Nicky, Ruby and Lucy have this year gone into business together with wellness brand Bless.

Billy, who was the much-loved larrikin on The Footy Show, now co-hosts Triple M’s Rush Hour with James Brayshaw and owns a pub in Geelong.

The publican, who was in a year-long relationship with Justine but is now single, is this week taking his four children to New York and Mexico for a winter holiday.

Nicky Brownless and Garry Lyon at the 2023 Australian Open. Picture: Tennis Australia/ Fiona Hamilton

In 2020, on I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here! he admitted it had been a tough road and said finding out his ex had hooked up with his former best friend was a “kick in the guts”.

“It was very public, front pages and all that,” Brownless said.

“We’d separated, which surprised a few.

“She left me, really. She just fell out of love, which happens ... and I didn’t expect it. You think ‘she’ll come back’ and all that, but she didn’t.

“So that was a good kick in the guts.”