Gary Lineker skipped the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Tuesday evening for a cozy dinner with his ex-wife Danielle Bux.
While his colleagues gathered at MediaCityUK, Salford football pundit, 64, enjoyed a candlelit dinner and drinks with Danielle, eight years after their divorce.
Danielle, 45, who has remained close friends with her ex after their seven-year marriage, shared Instagram photos from the evening at Dorian Restaurant in Notting Hill.
Showing off their table setting with salad and wine, the Welsh actress tagged Gary and wrote ‘Christmas Tipple’ before sharing a cozy selfie of the two waiting for their late-night tube ride home.
In November, it was announced that Gary would be stepping down as host of SPOTY after 23 years. His usual co-hosts Clare Balding, Gabby Logan and Alex Scott were all back for the 2024 ceremony.
The BBC pundit will also leave Match of the Day at the end of the season after 25 years as the star of the show.
Gary Lineker skipped the 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards on Tuesday evening for a cozy dinner with his ex-wife Danielle Bux
Danielle, 45, who has remained close friends with her ex after their seven-year marriage, shared Instagram photos from the evening at Dorian Restaurant in Notting Hill
Gary has remained close to his ex-wife Danielle since their split, and previously revealed how the Welsh beauty, who moved to Los Angeles after their split, will stay with him when she returns to London.
Danielle and Gary were divided over her desire to have children, while he was comfortable with his four sons, George, 32, Harry, 30, Tobias, 28, and Angus, 26. Danielle had daughter Ella, 22, from a previous relationship.
He previously told the Times: ‘Obviously I would have, but she said, ‘It’s not fair to you.’ Then I said, ‘Well, I’d feel terrible if I stopped you from doing this.’
Speaking on his friend Gaby Logan’s podcast The Mid-Point last year, Gary further explained: ‘It was purely down to the kids.
‘She already had a daughter, I had four boys, [but] Then her body clock started ticking and she got the urge.
“We finally decided, ‘Why don’t we just stay friends?'” he continued, adding that he wanted to give her the freedom to find someone who was also interested in having a baby.
“She didn’t want me to do something I didn’t really want to do deep down, and I didn’t want to stop her from doing something she really wanted to do, deep down, so we came to a logical and sensible decision. [split]’.
Danielle married Nate Greenwald, an American entertainment lawyer, in 2019, two years after they welcomed their seven-year-old daughter Romy.
While his colleagues gathered at MediaCityUK, Salford the football pundit, 64, enjoyed a candlelit dinner and drinks with Danielle, eight years after their divorce.
The Welsh actress showed off their table set with salad and wine, tagging Gary and writing ‘Christmas drink’
Danielle looked stunning in a black skirt and snakeskin heels paired with a chunky knit brown scarf
In November, it was announced that Gary would be stepping down as host of SPOTY after 23 years
In 2019, Gary revealed he speaks to Danielle three times a day as he insisted they are still ‘best friends’.
He admitted his bond with his wife is ‘unusual’, telling Mirror: ‘Danielle and I are best friends, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time.’
He added: “When she comes to London she stays with me, and when I go to Los Angeles I see her.”
Gary first married Michelle Cockayne in 1986, during which time they welcomed four sons together.
They split after 20 years of marriage and three years later in 2009, Gary married Danielle, who is 19 years his junior.
In 2019, Gary revealed he speaks to Danielle three times a day as he insisted they are still ‘best friends’
The couple chatted as they walked home, with Danielle a frequent visitor at her ex’s house
Admitting that his bond with his wife is ‘unusual’, he told Mirror: ‘Danielle and I are best friends, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time’
Danielle and Gary were divided over her desire to have children, while he was comfortable with his four sons, George, 32, Harry, 30, Tobias, 28, and Angus, 26. Danielle had daughter Ella, 22, from a previous relationship
Although Danielle remarried, Gary has remained single since their divorce.
In 2021, he claimed he was ‘not worried’ about intimacy – and admitted he was at an age where his testosterone levels had dropped.
In an interview with The Times, Gary said: ‘I like being alone… I don’t feel lonely. I have the odd date here and there, but nothing…
‘Not in terms of a long relationship. I have been married most of my adult life. Two very good marriages, I am friends with both.’
‘I’m still single. I’m not going that route! I’ve been there before and tried to explain it, but I got slaughtered by my friends.”
Gary explained in a 2023 interview, “It was purely down to kids. She already had a daughter, I had four boys, [but] Then her body clock started ticking and she had the urge’ (pictured in 2008)
Danielle married American entertainment lawyer Nate Greenwald in 2019, two years after they welcomed their daughter
Gary first married Michelle Cockayne in 1986, during which time they welcomed four sons together
Despite previously insisting he remained single, last month Gary was seen enjoying a night out at the popular Dorian restaurant with Leila Bartell, a friend of Johnny Depp’s ex-wife, Amber Heard.
The former England striker is rarely seen with women but spent an evening in May with Leila, believed to be in her mid-40s, and mutual friend Jemima Khan.
Rumors then circulated that Ms Khan and Lineker may have become an item. A year earlier he attended her 50th birthday party at her country estate, Kiddington Hall in Oxfordshire.