Shane Warne’s dad takes aim at Warnie series’ false narrative
Keith Warne, father of the late cricket legend Shane Warne, has offered his take on Channel 9’s Warnie miniseries.
A large number of viewers took issue with the first episode, voicing their displeasure across social media for all to see, and while Keith’s thoughts weren’t quite as vehement, they didn’t shine the most positive light on the series, or paint an accurate picture on Warnie’s behalf.
The Warne patriarch shared his thoughts with entertainment reporter Peter Ford ahead of the first episode going to air, and Ford went on to discuss that take with 3AW’s Jimmy Bartel and Mark Allen.
“I took a call last night from Keith just before it went to air last night,” Ford told the hosts, before going on to share that the previous week, he’d reported that “Keith and Shane’s brother Jason had gone in for a private screening” and had come out both “pleasantly surprised” and “quite happy with what they had seen.”
Ford explained that that was what he’d been “told by people who were there”, but in talking to Keith the night before, he’d learned that that was “not an accurate description of their reaction to it.”
“Keith is a very astute man, he knows it’s entertainment, he knows it’s not a documentary, but he feels that they missed out on a few key things,” he continued.
“The main thing is he feels they didn’t portray the growth of Shane from the larrikin teenager to the mature adult who wanted to make a difference in the world.”
Ford then shared that Keith felt “there were some inaccuracies that didn’t reflect well on Shane”, in particular the cricket great’s relationship with Liz Hurley.
Shane’s 10-year marriage to Simone Callahan ended in 2005 when the couple announced their divorce, and he met Liz in 2010 at a horse racing event, with the two revealing their engagement in 2011.
They were together for three years, but ultimately called off their engagement - and their relationship - in 2013.
And while their romance was “correct”, according to Keith via Ford, “in the show it’s presented that he did that during the time he was still married to Simone and Keith is quite adamant there was a distance between those two things happening.
“He’s not angry, he’s just disappointed by the result.”
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