Gary Lineker's 'weird' relationship with Miss Hawaiian Tropic star and massive net worth

Gary Lineker has been the face of Match of the Day for more than two decades, and is reportedly the highest paid star at the BBC - but his personal life has also been a source of fascination

Posted Thursday, October 10, 2024 by Dailystar.co.uk

Gary Lineker opened up on his relationship with his ex-flame Danielle Bux after the BBC star split from the stunning model.

Match of the Day host and England goalscoring legend Lineker, 63, has had his fair share of highs and lows away from the pitch. He is a devoted dad to four children, George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus, with his first wife Michelle Cockayne. However, the pair split after two decades, when she divorced him citing "unreasonable behaviour".

Gary Lineker and Danielle Bux are still good friends

Michelle claimed that Lineker's actions during their marriage had caused her "stress and anxiety". However, they later stated their marriage breakdown was amicable, with Lineker telling The Times he'd had "two really good marriages..."

Love wasn't off the cards for Lineker, who then fell for Cardiff beauty Danielle Bux, who is 20 years his junior. The pair met in 2007 after a blind date set them up and wed two years later in Italy.

Danielle is a Welsh actress and model, making her modelling debut in 1999 after winning a place on the Miss Hawaiian Tropic beauty pageant in Las Vegas. However, the stunner was only a model on the side as she worked as an air hostess for Virgin Atlantic. Her big break would come as she posed on the covers of various magazines including Hello!, OK! and Maxim.

It wouldn't be happily ever after for Lineker and Danielle, however, and they went their separate ways in 2016, due to different views on whether to start a family together. Yet they stayed good friends.

In an emotional interview with The Mirror back in September 2019, Gary gushed about his friendship: "Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time. When she comes to London she stays with me, and when I go to LA I see her."

Recalling conversations about starting a family, he said: "Obviously I would have done, but she said, 'It's not fair on you.' Then I said, 'Well, I'd feel terrible if I stop you doing it'."

Since leaving Lineker, Danielle has walked down the aisle with Nate Greenwald and welcomed a little girl named Ella. And Lineker gets on well with her new family: "He's [Nate] not got a jealous bone in his body. We get on really well. We go out for dinner when I'm in LA."

"It might be unusual and people might go, 'That's weird' but, frankly, I don't care. What is normal? Is it better to get divorced and end up fighting, screaming and shouting? Or is it better to get on if you can?"

In the summer of 2019, it was reported Lineker was in a relationship with chef Gizzi Erskine, after the two were pictured partying together backstage at All Points East festival. However, Gary and Gizzi's representatives denied any claims, and Lineker has since said "I like being on my own - I know it sounds a bit mad".

Lineker once again topped the BBC's rich list with a bumper £1.35million in his bank account for the past 12 months, according to the Beeb's summer report.

The Match of the Day legend's earnings contribute massively to his whopping £30million net worth, which dwarfs the wages he earned turning out for footballing giants like Barcelona.

Away from football punditry, Lineker has spread his wings presenting on BT Sport, NBC, and Al Jazeera, and has become a national treasure with his long-running gig with Walkers crisps.

However, Lineker's time at Match of the Day could be coming to an end - but on the Rest is Football podcast he slammed the stories, reports the Express.

"It's been a strange few days - as you know, like [Liverpool stars] Trent [Alexander-Arnold], Virgil [van Dijk] and Mo [Salah], I'm coming to the end of my contract in the summer so it's natural at some point you have to have conversations and they have just started," Lineker informed listeners.

"I don't know why it all spiralled out of control. All is okay."