AFL 2022: Tony Jones opens up about his brutal childhood to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell

Veteran Channel Nine sports reporter Tony Jones has lifted the lid on his tragic childhood in an emotional new interview.

The Sunday Footy Show host, 61, spoke to 3AW host Neil Mitchell this week about being abandoned and abused as a child, as well as his sister’s death after she was run over by a drunk driver.

Jones, who was beaten by his stepfather after his real-life father left the family when he was just two years old, described his formative years as “a rough start.”

When his father died eight years ago, Jones said he received a call from the police asking if he would pay for the funeral.

‘I’m a bit emotional about it’ [my dad’s death] now. Should I have given him a second chance? He treated my mother like shit, but should I have gotten to know him a little?’ said Jones.

‘I only met him twice [and it] was more out of curiosity. Which led to another pang of regret, they asked me and I said no [to paying for the funeral]. ‘I said, ‘What’s happening now?’ And they said, ‘He will go into the grave of a pauper.”

The Sunday Footy Show host, 61, who was beaten by his stepfather after his real-life father left the family when he was just two years old, described his early years as ‘a rough start’

The famously hot-tempered Jones said that while he isn’t proud of what he did, he sees his decision not to pay for the funeral as a form of “payback.”

“It doesn’t wake me up, but I kind of regret putting my father in a pauper’s grave. There was no support for my mother when he got up and left. There had to be a payback at some point,” he told Mitchell.

The TV host also shared how he was physically abused at the hands of his mother’s new partner.

The TV host also shared how he was physically abused at the hands of his mother’s new partner. (Jones is pictured with his mother)

‘Mama herself says she was unlucky in love. The guys who were in our lives were drop kicks or drunks. That didn’t make it pleasant,” he said.

At age 12, Jones tried to stop his stepfather from physically abusing his mother.

“He flattened me. He patted me from one side of the living room to the other. I still have a fat lip… that was pretty awful,” Jones recalled.

At age 12, Jones tried to stop his stepfather from physically abusing his mother

He added: ‘In my quiet moments I think about these things.

“As I get older, I think if you think about it too much, you become a basket. That’s why I get really annoyed when I hear stories coming out of the courts: “Oh, he came from a broken home.”

“Don’t give me that shit. Many of us come from broken homes, but still managed to stay on the right path.’

Jones also reflected on the death of his sister Robyn, who was murdered by a drunk driver in Melbourne at the age of 20.

Jones also reflected on the death of his sister Robyn, who was murdered by a drunk driver in Melbourne at the age of 20

Pictured is a childhood photo of Jones and his sister Robyn

Jones recalled when his mother, who lived in Melbourne, called him at 2 a.m. to say, “We’ve lost Robyn.”

The radio host was living in Sydney at the time and rushed to the airport.

“I came back to Melbourne and I remember picking up The Herald at the airport and it was on the front page and I was like, ‘Oh, this is real.’

Jones recounted when his mother, who lived in Melbourne, called him at 2 a.m. to say, ‘We’ve lost Robyn’. He was living in Sydney at the time and rushing to the airport

“That was many, many years ago, and for the life of me I don’t know how my mother did. As she says, you’ll never get over it, you have to live with it.’

Because of this experience, Jones said he is “absolutely paranoid” about driving in the morning after even a single drink.

Jones has also become more “emotional” about losing his sister as he gets older, as he wishes his children could have met their aunt.

In a bittersweet revelation, he shared how his mother held her second wedding in a cemetery so that his late sister could “be there” when she remarried.

Jones has gotten more ’emotional’ about losing his sister as he gets older, wishing his kids could have met their aunt