Geoffrey Edelsten opened up about infamous marriage to Brynne in unpublished 2019 interview

An unpublished interview with late flamboyant ex-doctor Geoffrey Edelsten has revealed he strongly disputed former wife Brynne’s claims they were never intimate.

Controversial businessman Geoffrey Edelsten, who blazed a trail of ruined romances after three failed marriages to glamorous women, had not given up on love.

In an unpublished interview with the Herald Sun, Edelsten, the flamboyant former doctor and Sydney Swans owner, regretted the broken nuptials, adding: “I’m a fool who probably fell in love easier than I should have. I’ve become more cautious, but yes, I’m still a romantic.”

Edelsten, who died aged 78 on June 11, agreed to a series of interviews in late 2019, mostly to reply to claims from his second wife, Brynne, that their marriage was sexless.

Edelsten also wanted to set the record straight on criticism, levelled by TV star Kerri-Anne Kennerley, over he and Brynne’s lavish $3.3 million wedding at Crown Casino in 2009.

Brynne and Geoffrey Edelsten had a lavish wedding at Crown Palladium in November 2009.

He was also hinted at future business plans and a possible return to medical clinics, but those proposals were too early to discuss. For now, Edelsten would sit down at Hunters Kitchen and Bar, on St Kilda Rd, near his home, to discuss life, love and loss. It was November 29, 2019.

“We did consummate,” Edelsten said of his relationship with US-born Brynne, who was 40 years his junior. “Brynne knows the truth.”

“Our marriage broke up because I found out about her past,” Edelsten said, then claimed: “A former boyfriend contacted me and said she worked at the Skin Cabaret in Arizona.”

Asked why he considered Brynne’s alleged past employment to be a deal breaker, Edelsten said: “I thought she should have at least told me about it. To find out from a total stranger that’s what she was doing, before I met her, I don’t think that was good.

“I think these with sorts of things, you should divulge. She’s denied it, and says she was a cocktail waitress.”

Geoffrey Edelsten and Gabi Grecko after their Melbourne wedding. Picture: Nathan Dyer

Geoffrey Edelsten pictured with wife Leanne.

Brynne issued a strong denial when a magazine published the same claims in 2012.

“I have questions,” Brynne said in a statement at the time. “If I was a stripper, and I’m not, what’s the crime?”

Geoffrey and Brynne split in 2014 and were divorced the following year.

Edelsten said he was smitten by Brynne and claims he spent $4 million on fashions, holidays and bling, trying to make her happy.

“She made me feel good. She was a very nice girl,” he said. “Initially, and certainly in the first year (of their relationship), it was very good,

“She was good looking, she was charming. She was a nice person. When I introduced her to family and friends, she came across very well.”

So, he was in love?

“I was, initially. But I became disappointed with her, and her demands. When she left, I thought it was probably better. We’d fallen out of love by then,” he says.

“I spent more than $4 million on her during our marriage; on clothes, jewellery and travel. One time, she said to me, ‘I want you to take me and all my friends to Tahiti.’ I paid for six of her friends, and bought her some very expensive jewellery and clothes. I think I really spoiled her.

“Even before she departed my life, I was overly generous to try to please her. I bought her a $100,000 watch. I thought that would make her happy, but it didn’t. Then we parted.”

Edelsten said he was hurt by Kennerley dissing his star-studded wedding, which featured US actors Fran Drescher, of The Nanny, and Jason Alexander, from Seinfeld, as guests of honour.

In a 2019 interview, Kennerley said she was confused about being invited to the wedding. She ad interviewed Edelsten once, when he was still with his first wife, Leanne.

“I unashamedly went for the entertainment,” Kennerley said. “Honestly, it was like a very expensive Logies. I was more excited to be sitting on a table with Fran Drescher than anything else.”

Edelsten says: “The wedding was to raise money for charity. Kerri-Anne Kennerley was only invited because we thought that it would increase donations from people who were our proper guests.”

The fundraiser, for charities including Beyond Blue, did not reach target. “We wanted to raise close to $1 million, but it was less than $100,000,” Edelsten said. “Some of the very wealthy guests gave donations of $100 for a couple. It was very disappointing.”

Edelsten recruited Alexander and Drescher for the wedding party because he admired their work on the small screen.

“I followed their careers and I liked them. I felt because it was going to be a Jewish wedding, it would be good to have Jewish actors.

“Jason was really interesting. The guests really enjoyed him.” Edelsten said. “Fran Drescher wasn’t so impressive. I’m not sure why she didn’t make much of it.”

Edelsten spoke fondly of Gabi Grecko, the former stripper turned rapper 4y years his junior, whom he married in 2015. The couple starred in Celebrity Apprentice Australia the same year.

“If I had my time over again, I wouldn’t have done Celebrity Apprentice, or try to get publicity,” Edelsten said. “But when your lifestyle is to enjoy yourself, and your partner, it’s hard because the media takes pictures, and does stories. It’s hard to stop that.

“I didn’t like the spotlight, but you can’t change it.”

Grecko, who lives in New York, recently claimed she and Edelsten were still married when he died.

Brynne and Geoffrey Edelsten outside Crown Casino.

But Edelsten claimed the marriage was officially over. “We’re divorced, it went through last week,” he said. “It’s very expensive, and time consuming and the courts take a long time to do it.

He added: “Gabi ended up having a number of issues, and some medical problems that caused her a lot of hospitalisation. She decided she wanted to get out (of their marriage).”

Asked which life achievements he was proudest of, Edelsten chose professional feats over personal.

Born in Carlton in 1943 to Jewish migrant parents, Edelsten studied medicine at Melbourne University and eventually became a general practitioner based in rural NSW.

He launched several all-hours bulk-bill clinics, which featured chandeliers and grand pianos, and was the first private owner of an AFL club.

Geoffrey Edelsten at his first wedding to wife Leanne.

“I was the first doctor in Australia to bulk bill,’ Edelsten said. “Some doctors really opposed it, they threw rocks through my window. But now 90 per cent of medical services are bulk billed.

“The all-hours medical clinics also revolutionised health care in Australia. There are hundreds of clinics now, all based on my model, with extended hours,” he said.

Edelsten, who was single at the time of this interview, was happy in life and ready to move to a new chapter.

“I’m always surprised at the number of people who approach me for selfies. It happens every day, wherever I am. It just amazes me,” he said, laughing.

US comedian Jason Alexander famously attended the pair’s nuptials.

“I get approached by former patients. People will come up and say, ‘You delivered me, or you delivered my son or daughter.’ Some remember the clinics with grand pianos and gold fit-outs.

He added: “I think more people like me, than don’t like me.”

After all he’d been through, had Edelsten given up on finding love?

“I’m so committed to work, and trying to make enterprises successful, most of my time is involved in that. I’m working on a new project that’s going to be a big challenge.

“I haven’t given up on love, but I’m not consciously looking for love,” Edelsten said. “I get approached several times a week by women I’ve never met before, who would like to meet me, and go out. I’m much happier being involved with work.”