Phoebe Burgess broke down in tears this week as she recalled the heartbreaking moment she discovered her then-husband, Sam Burgess, had an affair with a woman in Melbourne in 2017.
The former NRL WAG, 32 who was married to the retired South Sydney Rabbitohs player for four years before their split in October 2019, became emotional as she discussed Sam’s infidelity on the No Filter podcast.
Phoebe told host Mia Freedman she’d discovered her husband’s affair after he confessed to her he was being investigated by his club over a ‘sexting’ scandal in 2018. He was later cleared of any involvement in the ‘sexting’ matter.
Devastated: Phoebe Burgess (right) broke down in tears this week as she recalled the heartbreaking moment she discovered her then-husband, Sam Burgess (left), had an affair with a woman in Melbourne in 2017. Pictured on February 11, 2016, in Sydney
‘I was the ultimate defender of my husband,’ she said. ‘I believed that he’d been made a victim.
‘And then came the night where the next woman had decided she was going to tell the next story as well, that my husband had had an affair while he was captaining England in 2017, while I was travelling around the country without daughter to watch his games.’
Through tears, she added: ‘And that night, that night broke me.’
Raw: Phoebe said on the No Filter podcast she’d discovered her husband’s affair after he confessed he was being investigated by his club over a ‘sexting’ scandal in 2018. He was later cleared of any involvement in the ‘sexting’ matter. Pictured on June 13 in Sydney
While this was a devastating blow for their marriage, Phoebe said there were a number of other factors which contributed to the demise of their relationship.
The former journalist said she wasn’t able to give ‘an exact moment’ for when things went wrong, but she used an analogy to get her point across.
‘All I can say… is that analogy of the frog. You throw a frog in boiling water it’s going to scream. If you turn the heat up slowly, it stays there and it just cooks alive and that’s – little things started adding up,’ she said.
Beginning of the end: While this was a devastating blow for their marriage, Phoebe said there were a number of other factors which contributed to the demise of their relationship
‘I wish I’d listened to what my body was telling me. I became extremely anxious after having my daughter, after having back surgery, to the point where I couldn’t drive.
‘I was just afraid of driving. And that’s something that was never part of my personality. I couldn’t drive on a highway without feeling as though I wasn’t in control.’
Phoebe said she felt as if she was starting to ‘lose herself’.
Family: Phoebe shares her son Billy, two, and daughter Poppy, four, (both pictured) with Sam
It comes after Phoebe told The Weekend Australian in October that she underwent multiple tests for sexually transmitted infections as a result of Sam’s cheating while she was pregnant with their son Billy in late 2018.
She claimed that during the pregnancy, she also suffered through Sam’s ‘substance- induced screaming rages’.
‘These were things that I shouldn’t have been tolerating in a relationship’, she said.
‘These were things that I shouldn’t have been tolerating in a relationship’: It comes after Phoebe told The Weekend Australian in October that she underwent multiple tests for sexually transmitted infections as a result of Sam’s cheating while she was pregnant with their son Billy in late 2018
‘I was still protecting someone who was broken and behaving in such an abhorrent way, you know, leading up to the birth of my son, the drugs, the alcohol, partying, the benders, the begging.’
Phoebe also described the moment she found out about Sam’s infidelity, telling The Weekend Australia that she’d received a call ‘in the middle of the night’ with the news that a Melbourne woman was claiming she’d an affair with Sam in 2017.
‘That was probably the worst night of my life. I felt physical pain when I found out about that. I howled for about two hours on the ground,’ Phoebe told the paper.
Split: Phoebe and Sam married in 2015, before splitting in October 2019 amid reports of infidelity and allegations of his wild partying
Sam later admitted to the infidelity, which occurred while he was away captaining England in the Rugby League World Cup, during a confessional on the latest season of the reality show, SAS Australia.
Sam later admitted to infidelity, which occurred while he was away captaining England in the Rugby League World Cup, during a confessional on the latest season of the reality show, SAS Australia.
‘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. That’s true,’ he said tearfully.
‘I was away on tour, and regretfully that happened. Which would have been… it would have been a tough place for Phoebe to be.’
Phoebe and Sam married in 2015, before splitting in October 2019 amid reports of infidelity and allegations of his wild partying.
‘I don’t think I was the greatest husband at times’: Sam later admitted to infidelity, which occurred while he was away captaining England in the Rugby League World Cup, during a confessional on the latest season of the reality show, SAS Australia