‘Never heard him complain once’: Paul Vautin denies Mario Fenech mockery claim

Rugby league legend Paul Vautin has categorically denied claims Mario Fenech was mocked on the Footy Show after news of his dementia came to light.

Former Footy Show host Paul Vautin has denied ever mocking Mario Fenech on the show after learning about the rugby league legend’s battle with dementia.

Fenech’s tragic diagnosis was highlighted on Channel 7’s Spotlight on Sunday night as he battles effects of early onset dementia following a 274-game first-grade career.

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The 60-year-old is believed to be suffering the effects of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a brain condition caused by repeated blows to the head. The condition can only be officially diagnosed post-mortem via autopsy.

Fenech, who was often the butt of jokes on The Footy Show before it finished in 2017, was diagnosed with the insidious illness at the age of 53.

But while the fan favourite Fenech always appeared in on the joke, his wife Rebecca said his family were not happy about his portrayal on the show.

“They took the mickey out of him where, really, he’s a very intelligent man – but that’s the way it rolled,” Mrs Fenech said of the Channel 9 show.

“He wasn’t a boy’s boy because he didn’t gamble, he didn’t go and have a beer after the show. So I suppose it isolated him a little bit from those people.”

Mario was taken back into the sheds. Photo: 7 NEWS Spotlight

She said in the interview her husband sometimes returned home from the show “p**sed off”.

“He loved being around people, he loved to please people, but he used to come home p**sed off sometimes,” she said. “The joke was on him, he was the butt of the jokes.”

She said Fenech speaks to Vautin, Peter Sterling and Steve Roach “once or twice a year, but no, we don’t hear from anybody”.

Asked if they were aware of what was happening to Fenech, she said: “Of course they are.”

“I mean, there’s been whispers around for a long time.

“They know, they saw his decline obviously in The Footy Show as well. It just hasn’t been talked about, it’s silent.”

Vautin, who was critical of coverage surrounding Mrs Fenech’s comments, rejected the claims and said the panel “all love Mario”.

The former Footy Show host’s relationship with Fenech goes back to their playing days, where they lined up against each other as rivals for 10 years.

He said on 4BC’s Wide World of Sports on Monday he got to know Fenech when they began working together and that the fact Fenech didn’t drink, smoke or gambled meant “we knew we were on different planets, but there was something about him, you could not help but like him.”

“Mario was very good on the show, and he loved being on the show,” he said.

“He knew that we were taking the mickey out of him a hell of a lot, but he played the part so well.

“And once the show was finished it was back to, ‘Hey mate, how you going?’, and he’d always finish off with, ‘Love ya Fat, see you next week’, (and I’d say), ‘Yes mate, no dramas’.

“We used to take the mickey out of him a bit, and he played the role well, but you know what, he wasn’t the only one. On that show we all had the mickey taken out of us, no doubt about it.”

Paul Vautin on the Footy Show in 2010. Photo: Channel 9

Dementia is a disease Vautin sadly knows too well, with his own mother dying after battling the illness.

Vautin said he wanted to reassure fans that they “never ever mistreated Mario Fenech”.

“We are all still great mates, even though he lives at Redfern, Sterlo’s on the Central Coast, Chief’s (Paul Harragon) in Newcastle, Matty (Johns) is in Collaroy in Sydney and I’m on the Gold Coast, we all still think the world of each other. I just want people to know that,” he said.

Vautin said Fenech was the straight man and “I never heard him complain once.”

“There were things that we all did that we didn’t want to do, but for the sake of entertainment for the show we just got on with it and did it and had fun,” Vautin said.

“Mario Fenech is one of the greatest people that I’ve ever met. To tell a fella you love him is a big deal and we would often say that to each other as he left.

“Don’t worry about Falcon, he gave as good as he got on the show. He was terrific. He was a great work partner, we had a lot of fun together. That’s what it was: a lot of fun.”

Paul Vautin, Peter Sterling and Mario Fenech.

Vautin also said he understood where Rebecca’s criticism was coming from.

“What’s happened with Mario, I can’t put into words how I feel about it, especially for his wife,” he said.

“Rebecca’s been a great wife to him and a great person as well. I understand her frustration thinking that we did take the mickey out of him a bit too much, but he played a role and he loved it and he got paid.

“I hope a miracle happens with Mario, it’s just very sad. He did cop a lot of knocks.

“Whether rugby league has had anything to do with it I don’t know, but it’s a travesty of justice that a guy like him with so much to offer in his life to his family and friends is struggling.

“It is with much love we say we are all feeling for you.”

Vautin said he found out about Mario’s diagnosis in 2016 and added: “I know for a fact that Mario was seldom, if at all, used on the show after that, so there’s no possible way that we mocked him (while knowing his condition), none at all.”

Originally published as ‘Never heard him complain once’: Paul Vautin denies Mario Fenech mockery claim