Phoebe Burgess has revealed the hard reality of getting divorced
Phoebe Burgess broke down in tears while discussing the reality of her divorce from retired NRL player Sam Burgess.
Phoebe Burgess has broken down in tears while discussing her divorce from retired NRL player Sam Burgess.
The influencer spoke to Sky News journalist Jacinta Tynan about the toll divorce takes on someone on the latest episode of her Under The Gloss podcast.
Phoebe said leaving her high-profile marriage was confusing because she felt clueless about the process.
“I don’t know if you had an idea about what that process (of leaving your marriage) was going to look like or feel like. I know I didn’t. I had no idea, and it was the most at-sea moment,” she explained.
The couple married in 2015, separated in late 2018 and got back together in early 2019. They split again on October 2 that year after a cheating scandal and later divorced. The couple share daughter Poppy, 6, and Billy, 4.
Sam appeared on reality TV show SAS Australia in 2021 when he admitted to having an affair.
“I don’t think I was the greatest husband at times. I embarrassed my wife. I had an affair with a girl – a woman in Melbourne. Yeah, it’s true. I was away on tour. Regretful that it happened,” the former Rabbitohs player said.
Phoebe shared on her podcast that the breakdown of her relationship left her feeling incredibly alone.
“There is a visceral ache and a fear that I think can hit you. And anyone listening who knows someone who’s become a single parent or might be on the brink of it, those tiny moments. I remember feeling, Jacinta, so much more alone and scared,” she said.
She explained that her relationship ending left her feeling anxious about the future.
“There’s that feeling of, ‘oh dear, I don’t know what is going to happen next’. And you’re not ready to embrace all of the promise that it brings,” she said.
Phoebe broke down in tears after this candid admission.
Tynan calmly explained that she was “holding space” for Phoebe and encouraged her to embrace her raw emotions.
Phoebe immediately apologised for being overcome with emotion, “Sorry, sorry,” she said.
She pulled herself together and explained that having two young children helped her survive the brutal and public separation.
“When you look at the practical, your four-year-old and your six-year-old need you to get up off the floor because they need breakfast and they need uniforms and they need to get to school. And I think preserving the innocence and simplicity of their little routines, their little expectations, and what they know mummy provides for me – that was my life raft.
“That was the only solid thing that I held onto. That was it. They needed me. So I had to still be here, I had to still get up and do it all over again – and everything else is just noise,” she said.
Phoebe has spoken extensively about her choice to give up sex and said she found it frustrating that people assumed she was sexless from a place of bitterness.
Sam has since moved on with Lucy Graham, who is pregnant with their first child.