Keith Warne takes aim at ‘inaccuracies’ in Channel 9’s TV series Warnie

Keith Warne has raised a damning issue with Channel 9’s show into the life of his son Shane Warne and his relationship with Liz Hurley.

Keith Warne says he’s “disappointed” by Channel 9’s new two-part series into the life of his son, Shane.

The first part went to air on Sunday night with fans savaging the network for the show as many labelled it an “embarrassment”.

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Entertainment reporter Peter Ford spoke with Keith prior to the first episode going to air with the Spin King’s father not at all happy and taking aim at the misleading timelines.

“I took a call last night from Keith just before it went to air last night,” Ford told Jimmy Bartel and Mark Allen on 3AW.

“Last week I reported that Keith and Shane’s brother Jason had gone in for a private screening of the miniseries and they were pleasantly surprised and they were quite happy with what they had seen.

“Now that is what I was told by people who were there. But talking to Keith last night he says that’s not an accurate description of their reaction to it.

The reaction to the show hasn’t been great.

“Keith is a very astute man, he knows it’s entertainment he knows it’s not a documentary, but he feels that they missed out on a few key things.

“The main thing is he feels they didn’t portray the growth of Shane from the larrikin teenager to the mature adult who wanted to make a difference in the world.

“He feels there were some inaccuracies that didn’t reflect well on Shane. Such as the time he took up with Liz Hurley.

“Which is correct but in the show it’s presented that he did that during the time he was still married to Simone and Keith is quite adamant there was a distance between those two things happening.

“He’s not angry, he’s just disappointed by the result.”

Liz Hurley and Shane Warne. Picture: Instagram

Warne and Simone Callahan’s 10-year marriage ended in 2005 when the couple announced their divorce.

In 2010 the cricket legend met Hurley at a horse racing event where they instantly clicked before they were engaged in 2011.

The couple dated for three years before they called off their engagement and ended their relationship in 2013.

During an episode of his TV show, A Week with Warnie, the Spin King revealed the break up still pained him seven years down the track.

“I’m quite sad it’s over because I still care about her deeply and she’s a wonderful person,” he said.

The couple always stole the spotlight. Picture: Bradley Hunter

The first of two parts aired on Sunday night with the second set to follow on Monday night, but the reaction to the opening episode was savage.

Starting with Warne getting dropped in 1999 in the West Indies before returning to the beginning of his career, it covered his devastation at getting delisted by St Kilda, getting selected for Australia and dropped soon after, the Ball of the Century and into the John the Bookmaker scandal.

It also covered his love life with his wife Simone Callahan and into the diuretic scandal which saw Warne banned for a year in 2003.

But while Warne is one of the most beloved and unique characters Australia has ever seen, fans could not say the same about the series.

CODE Sports’ Lachlan McKirdy said it was: “Real bad. Shocking script and just a lot of cringe.”

Former Cricket Australia communications officer Matt Cenin posted: “30 minutes of the #Warnie telemovie … atrocious. What an embarrassment.”

One social media user wrote: “This is really good if you take out the actors and script and just look at the archive footage.”

Alex Williams as Shane Warne in Warnie. Picture: Nine

Warne died in March 2022 but six months after his death shocked the world, Nine revealed it would make the miniseries just six months later.

At the time, it was slammed by Warne’s daughter Brooke.

“Do any of you have any respect for Dad? Or his family? Who did so much for Channel 9, and now you want to dramatise his life and our family’s life six months after he has passed away? You are beyond disrespectful,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.

Brooke also confirmed the family had met with producers, while a Nine spokesperson said the network and Screentime, the company producing the series, had collaborated with the family.