Channel 7's telling Wayne Carey move amid SAS Australia appearance

Wayne Carey has been removed from Channel 7's Friday night football coverage of the AFL in a move that he says was a "mutual decision" between himself and the network.

Carey is expected to be moved to Seven's Saturday night coverage for the 2022 season, with Daisy Pearce replacing him in the ratings-leading Friday night timeslot.

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While some suggested the change was a demotion for Carey, the AFL legend has attempted to set the record straight.

“It’s been a mutual conversation over the last few months," he told Triple M on Monday.

"My kids do Friday night sport after school, so it was just something I thought was a really good change for me.

"It’s been an ongoing discussion for quite some time and a mutual decision and one that at the end of the day if it couldn’t be worked out then it wouldn’t have happened.

“I was more than happy to go to Saturday nights and really looking forward to the change in my week."

Pearce will reportedly join Luke Hodge on special comments on Friday nights, with Brian Taylor and James Brayshaw calling the action.

Seven’s managing director Lewis Martin said Carey is still a valued person for the network considering his appearance on reality TV show SAS Australia.

“There are a number of changes that are going to happen and it’s just to freshen up the roster,” Martin said.

“He’s coming off SAS, so there’s going to be a number of rotations.”

Wayne Carey scandals laid bare on SAS Australia

In Tuesday night's episode of SAS, Carey was grilled about a number of infamous relationship scandals that have plagued his past.

The North Melbourne premiership captain left the club in disgrace in 2002 when he was caught cheating with the wife of teammate and close friend Anthony Stevens.

Stevens was among a number of players who caught wife Kelli with Carey in a bathroom at a pre-season birthday party.

Carey was also accused of 'glassing' former fiancee Kate Nielson in a restaurant in America in 2007.

“I’m not proud of some of the things that I’ve done,” Carey said.

“But I’ve done a lot of work on myself over the last 10 years and I take ownership of it myself.

“One of the biggest stories was when I slept with a teammate’s wife. It’s haunted me for over 20 years.

"I was in self destruction mode and I guess my life started to unravel. I left the football club and went to America.

“In America, I’ve been charged with assaulting police, I got accused of glassing my girlfriend.

"I leant over to throw wine on her in a restaurant, which clearly is wrong, the glass touched her lip. The headlines were that I glassed her.

“That’s one of the biggest regrets of my life. Of course throwing wine on a girlfriend is unacceptable, completely unacceptable.

"Yes, the glass touched her lip, it didn’t break, I wasn’t trying to glass her.”

Carey made the staggering admission that he mentally abused and intimidated former partners without fully realising.

“All my partners would say I’ve never been physically abusive,” he said.

“But have I been abusive mentally and also I guess intimidating? Absolutely. Why I behave that way is due to I think a number of reasons, not addressing things. Actually being physically violent to someone. I saw that growing up. The way my dad was with my mum.

"Horrific stuff. And that’s why when people close to me said that it is unacceptable, I said, ‘What do you mean?’.

"I raised my voice, I stood up, I put my arm on her. I now know how warped my thinking was. You don’t have to actually hit someone to be abusive.

“The penny drop stuff. I spoke to the right people and that’s not to say I’m a perfect human now either, I’m still a work in progress.”

If you or someone you know is impacted by domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au.

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