Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin tells tale of being burned for Tina Turner ad

Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin has shared the hilarious tale of how he was brutally cut from the American rock star’s famous NRL campaign.

Vautin got burned by Tina

Tina Turner helped change rugby league forever, but one NRL icon missed out on being a part of the magic.

The world was left in mourning after the American music icon died at the age of 83 on Thursday.

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Her connection to Australia through rugby league was one of the more remarkable crossovers in recent sporting history.

It all started in 1989, when Turner starred in a now iconic TV advertising campaign featuring her singing What You Get Is What You See from her sixth solo album Break Every Rule.

The smash hit was intertwined with semi-raunchy shots of players running on the beach, in the sheds and in full flight on the field.

On Thursday night’s NRL coverage on Channel 9, Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin revealed how the rock star effectively kicked him out of the campaign.

“They rang me and said we need you to go to Maroobra beach, we’re going to shoot this ad with Tina Turner and bring some sluggos (swimwear),” Vautin said.

“I turn up and they put me in the middle of Wayne Pearce and Andrew Ettingshausen.

“I’m in the sluggos and it’s fair to say I’d had a pretty big off-season. So we did this run down the beach about five times and then they said lets have a rest.

“I hear the American director say to someone ‘hey man, who’s that fat hairy guy in the middle?’.

“The bloke goes ‘that’s Paul Vautin he’s the Manly captain blah blah blah’ and he goes ‘well man, get him out of my shot’.

“So they brushed me. I can’t believe it. I’m still fat and I’m still hairy.”

The two-minute ad for the NSWRL, then known as the Winfield Cup, was an attempt to change rugby league’s image as a blokey sport, and make it more family friendly and appealing to females.

Turner released her smash hit The Best the following year, and filmed another rugby league promo ‘Simply The Best’, which has gone down in Aussie sporting folklore.

The commercial was such a hit the NSW Rugby League continued its relationship with Turner, bringing her over to perform The Best at the 1993 Grand Final at the Sydney Football Stadium.

The crowd belted out the famous lyric “you’re simply the best” and Turner posed with the Brisbane Broncos with the trophy after they defeated the Dragons.

Could’ve been Fatty here. Picture: Action photographics/NRL Images

Vautin captured the hearts of the NRL world last month when he shared the heartbreaking news of his father’s passing.

“Rugby league lost one of its greatest fans yesterday – and that fan was my dad George Vautin, who passed away at 3.10am on Thursday morning,” he said.

“He loved his footy, he played footy in the 50s, he was a great fella.

“We had lunch on Monday and then Tuesday he fell ill. I actually witnessed his last breath at 3.10am on Thursday morning.

“I want to thank the staff at the Redcliffe Emergency Hospital, who are fantastic, and also the palliative care people, who are brilliant. Dad – we’re going to miss you. He was 95 by the way and I know his life was cut short but we’re grateful for every single minute that we spent with him.

“He was a great husband to Leila, a great father to Geoffrey, Deborah, Paul and Russell. Dad – rest in peace champion.”

Originally published as Paul ‘Fatty’ Vautin tells tale of being burned for Tina Turner ad