Gary Lineker opens up on ‘unusual’ relationship with ex-wife Danielle

Gary Lineker has opened up on the continuing friendship he has with ex-wife Danielle Bux and her husband Nate Greenwald, admitting that some may find it “unusual”. He elaborated that he and Danielle split over their different opinions about expanding their family, and not due to a feud, so they remain on excellent terms.

“It was purely down to children,” Gary explained candidly of the reason they parted ways.

“She already had a daughter, I had four boys, [but] then her body clock started ticking and she had the urge,” he recalled in a new interview with Gabby Logan on her podcast The Mid-Point.

“In the end, we decided ‘Well, why don’t we just stay mates?’,” he continued, adding that he wanted to leave her free to find someone who was equally interested in having a new baby.

“She didn’t want me to do something that I didn’t really want, deep down – and I didn’t want to stop her from doing something that she really wanted, deep down, so we just came to a logical and sensible [split],” he concluded.

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Danielle went on to marry entertainment lawyer Nate Greenwald, and she had her much longed for child with him, welcoming a daughter in 2017.

Gary has no hard feelings, explaining that the pair’s initial “lust” and “passion” had morphed into friendship instead towards the end of their marriage.

“After [the initial lust in the early stages of married life], you become mates, don’t you?” he reasoned.

“And if you don’t become mates, then you’ve got a problem!”

Match of The Day star Gary explained: “We are best buddies and speak most days and [her husband] is a good friend of mine now!”

Podcast host Gabby Logan sounded surprised by the mature way that the pair had handled their breakup, exclaiming: “I’m sure a lot of other people wish they could achieve that.”

However, Gary replied that he knows “one or two other people in similar circumstances” who have made their post-marriage friendships work.

He’s also keen to side-step the description of a “failed marriage”, saying that both of his were “really successful” in his eyes.

Prior to tying the knot with Danielle, he’d had a 20-year marriage with his first wife Michelle Cockayne.

The pair had four sons together – George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus – before she sought a divorce on the grounds of “unreasonable behaviour”.

However, it seems they have patched up their relationship since, with Gary now rationalising that they “just gradually drifted apart”.

He clarified that he no longer argues with either of his ex-wives.

Meanwhile, Gary also took the opportunity to clarify that he doesn’t believe he’s had a midlife crisis at any point, insisting he’s “not a crisis type”.

“I’ve never suffered from any kind of depression [and] don’t have mental health issues,” he mused.

“Life is full of ups and downs but I’m fairly stable overall… I don’t think I’ve had a midlife crisis [unless] maybe it was taking to Twitter and airing my views a bit!” he joked.

The full interview with Gary Lineker can be found here.

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