Sam Burgess is one of the best players in Rugby League and one of the toughest forwards in the history of the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
His wife, Phoebe, is six months pregnant with the couple’s second child.
Now, there is a dark cloud over all of it.
Last week, the 29-year-old was unmasked by News Corp as one of the Rabbitohs players involved in a sexting scandal.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the father-of-one was among a group of players who exposed themselves, without consent, to a 23-year-old woman in a series of video chats – an exchange, she said, that left her feeling “violated and uncomfortable”.
The woman, who has not been identified, shared screenshots of the footage reportedly taken the evening of May 26, in which a man flashes his backside and another shows his bare torso and genitals.
While their faces are reportedly obscured, the woman claims the footage came from a verified Facebook account in Sam Burgess’ name.
On Saturday, Phoebe cancelled a public appearance.
The former journalist was expected to attend Colgate Optic White Stakes Day at Royal Randwick Racecourse on Saturday morning as part of her role as a Colgate ambassador.
Instead, she was a no show.
“Phoebe is heavily pregnant, there is no way she could have put herself in that situation,” a close friend of the mum-of-one told The Daily Telegraph.
“The stress would have been all too much.”
The 29-year-old also opted out of watching her husband, and brothers-in-law George and Tom, in their semi-final game against the Dragons on Saturday night.
Since the news broke last week fans have rallied around Phoebe, sending her messages of support on Instagram. She has disabled comments on her most recent posts.
Phoebe and Sam were married in 2015 and have a nineteen-month old daughter, Poppy Alice.
Phoebe is yet to make a statement to the media.
Mamamia has reached out to Phoebe Burgess’ management for comment.
Top Comments
Yep If I was her I'd stay away from the media,both normal and online
What the hell MM?! Again another article about Phoebe and how she is, shock, horror!!, cancelling appearances right now. She is 6mths pregnant and going through something horrific!! What the hell is wrong with you? Trying to contact her for comment, writing multiple articles about what vile thing her husband has done and focusing on her movements. You all are scum and vultures! Just as bad as New Idea and Woman's Day. Leave her alone,keep her out of the media! Stop dredging up what is happening. She knows, we all know. ENOUGH!! If she wants to reach out to scum media I'm sure she will contact you. You are supposed to be about uplifting and supporting women, you just want gossip.
I hope your husband's/partners cheat and do something vile and it is dredged up in the media, and you all are 'contacted for comment',for all of us to dissect. Don't think it will happen to you? Well Phoebe probably thought the same....
While it lost me towards the end, lots of the comment is hard to argue with.
If she hadn’t cultivated a social media identity based on being Burgess’ wife, maybe. But she has used her marriage as leverage to gain social media status, followers and endorsements. So of course there is interest in what is going on and how that perfect family image she has cultivated is travelling in the wake of her husbands d*ck move. Her management has been contacted for comment, not her personally, so calm down.
It doesn't mean the media has a right to harass her,especially being so heavily pregnant! As if it wouldn't be stressful enough she has to deal with parasite media
She’s six mths pregnant, since when is that “heavily pregnant”? Sure , of course it’s stressful , but her social media use goes towards explaining why there is interest in her personally beyond the normal look at what the wife of an errant player is doing.