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<\/p>\nA resurfaced interview has revealed Lachie Neale was brutally rejected by wife Jules when they first met around 15 years ago.<\/p>\n
The former AFL golden couple, whose separation was confirmed last week, first met in a Perth nightclub when Lachie was 18 and Jules was 21.<\/p>\n
At the time, Lachie was playing for the Fremantle Dockers, and it was his teammate Matthew Pavlich who introduced him to the now mother of his children.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe first time I met Jules I was 18 and I asked Pav to introduce me to her,\u201d Lachie recalled in a 2019 interview.<\/p>\n
However, Lachie didn\u2019t get the reaction he\u2019d hoped for, and Jules brutally rejected his advances.<\/p>\n
Revealing her savage response, Lachie told Perth Now: \u201cHe (Pav) came back and said, \u2018She\u2019s not interested in an 18-year-old Harry Styles lookin\u2019 kid\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pair went their separate ways but reconnected around six years later and began a whirlwind romance.<\/p>\n
Lachie, now 32, popped the question in 2017 after just nine months of dating. They wed in a luxurious Perth ceremony the following year.<\/p>\n
They now have two young children: Piper, four, and Freddie, one.<\/p>\n
Lachie has previously revealed how Jules packed up her life in WA to support him when he was transferred to the Brisbane Lions in 2019.<\/p>\n
Jules, 35, sold her successful hair salon and left behind her family and friends in order for Lachie to follow his dreams. She now works for the Mikki Auld salon in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
The mum-of-two previously opened up about how tough she found the move across Australia, admitting it was a \u201cbig thing\u201d to leave behind her life in Perth.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a lot of work to build that business up and it was a big thing to leave behind,\u201d she told The Courier Mail in 2020.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s been a tough year away from family and friends. We left a lot to move here. It was a big decision for us and for me to leave the business I had. I\u2019ve never lived away from my family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe success the team had this year and the Brownlow, it makes it all worth it, to see everything we sacrificed pay off and him achieving his goals. I\u2019m in awe of him,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Just over five years later, their marriage has dramatically imploded.<\/p>\n
AFL fans were stunned last month when Jules announced she had been \u201cbetrayed in the most unimaginable way\u201d and publicly slammed her former best friend, Tess Crosley<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTake these down you idiot, you\u2019re embarrassing yourself,\u201d she wrote under Crosley\u2019s now-deleted photograph<\/a> of her with the ex-couple at the Brisbane Lions\u2019 AFL final celebrations.<\/p>\n Over on her Instagram Story, Jules denied reports she was \u201cworking through\u201d issues with Lachie and said her focus was now on \u201ctrying to heal\u201d and caring for her children.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make it very clear that I am not \u2018working through\u2019 anything. I have been betrayed in the most unimaginable way.<\/p>\n \u201cAll I can do now is try to heal and do what\u2019s best for my children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Last Friday, Lachie publicly confirmed their split and announced he was stepping down as the Lions\u2019 co-captain<\/a>.<\/p>\n