Wife's first social media post amid Tim Paine sexting scandal
Tim Paine's wife Bonnie has taken to social media for the first time since his sexting scandal was made public.
Paine stepped down as Australia's Test cricket captain last Friday after lewd messages he sent to a former staff member at Cricket Tasmania in 2017 were made public.
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Paine, who was married at the time and is still wife with Bonnie, apologised to his family.
“Although exonerated (by a Cricket Australia Integrity Unit investigation), I deeply regretted this incident at the time and still do today. I spoke to my wife and family at the time and am enormously grateful for their forgiveness and support,” he said on Friday.
“I’ve been blessed with a wonderful, loving and supportive family, and it breaks my heart to know how much I’ve let them down.
"They have always stood by me, been my most loyal fans, and I’m indebted to them for their support.”
On Tuesday, Bonnie took to social media for the first time since the scandal broke.
Bonnie posted on her Instagram stories of four children and a dog playing in the backyard on a slip and slide.
“Brighter days," the 36-year-old wrote in a telling caption.
It marked the first time Bonnie had posted on social media since the news of her husband's scandal came out.
Bonnie Paine 'betrayed and hurt' by sexting scandal
Speaking in an interview with the Herald Sun last weekend, Bonnie said she felt "hurt and betrayed" when she first learnt of the scandal but believes it has made their marriage stronger.
"I have a bit of sympathy for Tim at the moment. A lot actually. He and I went through all of this privately in 2018. It was horrific then, and is really hard, and now," Bonnie said.
"I remember feeling angry because we had a little girl that wasn’t too old. At the same time, Tim and I had been in a long relationship, it’d been 10 years, and God knows we had had our ups and downs, and I don’t claim to be perfect, but I was still completely rocked."
Bonnie said the couple worked to put the scandal behind them and feels "frustrated" to have to go through it all again now.
"We had all dealt with it. Tim had dealt with the repercussions from Cricket Australia, being scrutinised and investigated, and then he had to tell me and deal with me being upset," she said.
"Now, it seems unfair that it’s being aired out to everyone else to view and judge."
Paine said: “This is really distressing and upsetting, and I’m really embarrassed. I feel sick for Bonnie and for my family, more than anything else.”
Paine was initially cleared after being investigated by Cricket Australia, but current CA chairman Richard Freudenstein admitted his current administration would have arrived at a different decision if in charge three years ago.
It was only in the past week the case was re-examined, when it emerged News Corp had planned to print parts of the text message exchange.
with AAP
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