Warne's wife changes name by CricketArchive staff reporter

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Player:

SK Warne

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DateLine: 19th June 2006

 

Australian leg spinner Shane Warne’s former wife has changed her name and moved out of the family home. In a bid to put her troubled relationship with the world’s highest wicket taker behind her, Simone Warne said that from now on she would be known as Simone Callahan. Simone also said she needed "closure" from her failed marriage to Warne, which produced three children. “It’s my name. It's my identity and it is symbolic to me that I'm my own person," she said in Melbourne. "This is who I am, not who I was."

 

The couple split last year after she lost patience with Warne when British tabloids reported details of his alleged infidelities on Australia's Ashes tour of England. Earlier this year Warne said he had been "an idiot" and put the extra-marital escapades down to the loneliness of being on the road touring for months at a time with the Australian team.

 

Warne also described Simone as the love of his life and said they remained "like brother and sister" even though they were in the midst of a divorce. However, Simone said she had not consulted Warne about changing her name and moving out of the luxury home they built together in Melbourne. "I haven’t spoken to Shane about it but, to be honest, his opinion doesn't really matter to me anymore," she said.

 

The ex-model has become a minor television celebrity since her split with Warne, appearing on a reality television show called "Dancing with the Stars" and recently being voted one of Australia's sexiest women by a men's magazine.