Brendan Fevola, the former AFL star, has revealed that his gambling addiction led to his family losing their home. In a candid interview on FOX FM's Fifi, Dave, Fev and Byron show, Fevola admitted to losing $360,000 in just three to four days, calling himself 'an absolute idiot'.
Fevola explained that he spent nearly 12 hours betting on horses, accumulating $366,000 in his account. However, when the bookmaker refused to release his winnings until Monday, he found himself $20,000 in debt by Sunday night. He described the gambler's mentality: 'When you win, you get excited and you want to bet more, but eventually you're going to lose, because you keep betting bigger and bigger.'
The former footballer confessed to using family funds to escalate his bets, which 'crippled' his family financially. He said, 'It affects your family, you lose that much money and then you go into other money and then you don't have money. It crippled.' He attributed his wife Alex's decision to leave him while they lived in Brisbane to his gambling, noting that she now manages all the family accounts.
Fevola's gambling and alcohol addictions have cost him nearly $1 million, leading to bankruptcy in 2013. Despite these troubles, the couple reconciled, and Fevola proposed to Alex again in 2016 after winning I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! They share three children: Mia from Alex's previous relationship, and their own daughters Leni and Lulu.
