Lara Bingle: The best thing I ever did was leave Michael Clarke

LARA Bingle has fired a parting shot at Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke, saying she called off their engagement and dumping him was the best thing she did.

BIKINI model Lara Bingle has fired a parting shot at Aussie cricket captain Michael Clarke, saying she called off their engagement and dumping him was the best thing she did.

Bingle claims she initiated their split and she remained friends with Clarke following their 2010 breakup.

"The best thing I ever did was leave (Clarke),'' she said.

"You know what I mean? So I got to experience all these ­opportunities. Otherwise, I kid you not, I would have three children by now.''

Bingle felt she was living in Clarke's shadow during their three-year romance and ­described his job as Australia's most prestigious sporting skipper as "very robotic''.

"I felt like I was living in his dream,'' she said.

"And there are girls that are happy to do that and hats off to them.

"But I require more for ­myself. I need to be stimulated more than that, you know?''

Clarke and Bingle's high-profile relationship was punctuated by headlines, an engagement ring said to be worth $200,000 and the ­couple selling news of their ­engagement to New Idea.

>> Read the full interview in Sunday Style with your copy of the Sunday Herald Sun

He then tattooed her initials on his shoulder and bought her a $300,000 Aston Martin.

Bingle is now dating Hollywood actor Sam Worthington, with the pair pictured running errands together around Sydney over the past few weeks.

Worthington posted a picture of Bingle on Instagram and admitted in a radio interview he was "smitten" with his new girlfriend.

It's a happy ending for the model, who revealed she struggled after her split with Clarke.

"At times it was like: 'How am I ever going to recover from this?' '' she said.

But she said Clarke had since congratulated her with how she "turned the ship around so much''.

"It's like I never saw myself walking up an aisle,'' she said.

"I was 19 when I got engaged. I'm just glad I've been honest and true to myself through this whole experience.''

She said Clarke should take the same approach to his "very robotic'' job where, she said, "he answers the same questions every day''.

"It's like the same routine every day, which is fine, and he's very good at that,'' she said. "But I also think if people knew him, the perception is not that amazing the whole time. I don't know ... if he was just himself.''

Former Test captain Ricky Ponting last week revealed his doubts about Clarke's captaincy credentials during his high-profile romance with Bingle in an excerpt from his book in the Sunday Herald Sun.

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