AFL midfielder Bailey Smith was spotted flying back to the Gold Coast on Thursday, just weeks after his brief romance with fitness influencer Tammy Hembrow, a resident of the Sunshine State, concluded. However, the Geelong Cats star, 24, did not make the journey for another intimate meeting with the 31-year-old blonde beauty, who recently made a public dig at the footballer.
A VIP Invitation, Not a Rendezvous
Instead of a romantic reunion, Smith's trip north was for a professional engagement. The athlete attended the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500 as a VIP guest for the event's official spirits supplier. He was photographed at the airport dressed in a white and grey camouflage jumper, which he combined with loose black jeans and sneakers. The athlete completed his travel look with a water bottle in hand and a conspicuously flashy Louis Vuitton luggage bag.
Tammy Hembrow's 'New Dating Era' and Subtle Swipe
The trip follows a very public move by Tammy Hembrow, who recently announced her entry into a 'new dating era'. The influencer revealed a collaboration with the dating app Tinder, a platform for which Bailey Smith is also an ambassador. In a sponsored Instagram clip last month, Hembrow detailed what gives her 'butterflies' or 'the ick' in a potential partner.
In a thinly veiled reference to her time with Smith, she confessed that men who only want to talk about footy were a definite 'ick'. "Only because I don't know anything about footy," she explained. "I can't really contribute to that conversation."
Staged Romance or Coincidental Timing?
Fans have since accused Hembrow of staging the short-lived romance for publicity, given its proximity to her Tinder partnership announcement, which came just three months after Smith revealed his own collaboration with the app. In her Instagram video, she stated, "I am officially in my new dating era and, yes, I'm on Tinder looking for my next crush."
Seemingly alluding to her fling with the AFL player, she added, "Honestly, I feel like everyone thinks dating has to be so serious, it's supposed to be fun! So I'm on Tinder to see who's out there."
This public foray back into dating follows Hembrow's recent split from ex-husband Matt Zukowski. The pair got engaged in December 2023 after a whirlwind three-month courtship, married in November 2024, and announced their divorce after just seven months of marriage in June.
