Grace Fitzgibbon dumped her Fox Sports ‘golden boy’ boyfriend Jake Duke when he got a shocking call from a woman in the middle of the night. Now she has fallen for her brother’s pallbearer
A Channel Seven TV reporter whose brother, a Special Forces soldier, was killed in a parachute jump has fallen in love with a pallbearer at his funeral – after a much-publicised split from her boyfriend.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that Grace Fitzgibbon, 31, has found love in the most unlikely of places, following the tragic death of her brother Jack during a training exercise in March.
Ms Fitzgibbon shared amorous photos of herself with a handsome young man, Az, on Tuesday afternoon with the simple caption: ‘Silver edges’.
A friend confirmed the relationship, telling Daily Mail Australia: ‘(Grace and Az) have known each other for ages – he was a good friend of Jack’s and one of the pallbearers at his funeral.
“They came together in their grief, but he makes her very, very happy and it’s nice to see Grace smiling again.”
The new relationship follows the much-publicised split between Fitzgibbon and Fox Sports’ ‘golden boy’ Jake Duke in February.
The rift came after Duke received a phone call in the middle of the night from glamorous New Zealand rugby league reporter Tiffany Salmond.
At the time, Salmond, 26, told friends she didn’t know Duke had a girlfriend when she called him, claiming Fitzgibbon was rarely seen on the rising Fox star’s personal Instagram page.
Grace Fitzgibbon has ‘launched hard’ her relationship with ‘Az’ (pictured together above) who was a pallbearer at her brother’s funeral
Jake Duke and Grace Fitzgibbon’s relationship imploded after he received a late night phone call from a colleague in New Zealand
Tiffany Salmond called Jake Duke ‘in the early hours’, prompting his girlfriend to end their three-year relationship
Weeks later, tragedy struck when Mrs Fitzgibbon’s 33-year-old brother Jack died when his parachute failed to deploy during a routine military exercise at the RAAF base in Richmond, 50km north-west of Sydney.
Corporal Fitzgibbon suffered serious head injuries and was taken to Westmead Hospital in Sydney’s west, where he died.
Mrs Fitzgibbon paid tribute to her brother in a pre-recorded eulogy at a funeral service at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cessnock in March.
Mrs Fitzgibbon, the daughter of former Labour Minister Joel Fitzgibbon, told relatives she was devastated by the loss but knew her brother would be “in her bones”.
“As your little sister, I promise to be there and protect our family no matter what life throws at us,” she said.
Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon died after a parachute incident during a special forces training exercise on March 6
The Fitzgibbon family at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Cessnock with his family for the funeral of son and brother Jack
Soldiers lined the streets in March to wave goodbye to Corporal Fitzgibbon
“When there are questions that need to be answered or decisions that need to be made, I just ask myself, ‘What would Jack do?’ I love you more than you will ever know.”
Hundreds of people, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and Defence Minister Richard Marles, attended Corporal Fitzgibbon’s funeral service.
Soldiers also lined the streets of Cessnock to pay tribute to the corporal.
Mrs Fitzgibbon declined to comment on her new relationship.