Model Mia Fevola has delivered a raw and emotional account of her childhood, revealing how her father, AFL legend Brendan Fevola, left the family homeless after gambling away their fortune.
A Childhood Shattered by Debt
Speaking to campmates on Tuesday's episode of I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!, the 26-year-old explained she had blocked out much of the trauma as a defence mechanism. She disclosed that her father once gambled a staggering $363,000 in a single day. "I didn't really know what was going on unless people at school told me. That's how I found out," Mia confessed. "We just bought a house and didn't settle so we got sued. And then we were homeless because he gambled every cent ever that we had."
Bankruptcy and a Fight for Survival
The family's life unravelled as Brendan Fevola's addiction spiralled. The Carlton cult hero, who has been open about losing millions, was declared bankrupt in 2013. With no home and no money, Mia, her mother Alex, and her siblings were forced to move in with her grandparents in Melbourne. To help the family recover, Alex Fevola turned to reality television, appearing on Dancing with the Stars to generate income. Meanwhile, Brendan entered rehab in a bid to tackle his addiction.
Reflecting on his past in a 2023 radio interview, Brendan Fevola admitted his lucrative AFL earnings "ruined" his life. "I earned millions. Millions. And I lost it all because I was a bogan," he said on Fox 101.9's Fifi, Fev & Nick. He revealed he had owned seven houses during his career but lost everything to gambling. "I just thought money would come easy. Winning the lotto – easy money. Let's spend it." His addiction was so severe he once sold his Coleman Medal to fund it.
Lasting Impact on the Family
The fallout from the gambling crisis had a devastating effect on his marriage to Alex. She previously described the moment she discovered the truth, recalling a time when his pay did not arrive in their account. "Eventually, someone answered my call and told me that, 'yeah, there was no pay' and it was that entire year's worth of pay," she said.
The couple's relationship has been a rollercoaster, splitting in 2010 after Brendan's affair with model Lara Worthington and divorcing in 2014 due to his gambling, before reconciling. They share four children: Mia, Leni, 19, Lulu, 15, and Tobi, seven. In a stark summary of his downfall, Brendan himself noted, "You get into money you lose it all and then you end up on a stupid show like I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! That's what happens." He appeared on the show in 2016 to rehabilitate his image, a path his daughter Mia is now following.
