Phoebe Burgess has thanked her father for helping raise her kids after her “life imploded” following the breakdown of her marriage to Sam.
WATCH Inside Phoebe Burgess self-isolation with her two children
Phoebe split with her NRL star husband in October 2019 and is currently based in her hometown of Bowral, where her mum and dad are hands-on grandparents to her two kids; Poppy, four and Billy, two.
Phoebe took to Instagram on Father’s Day to praise her dad Mitch Hooke for being there in her darkest moments.
“We all think our own Dad is special, growing up I always said ‘he’s my hero’… but it wasn’t until my life imploded that I truly bore witness to what being a ‘hero’ to your children means,” she wrote.
“It means being there, in the quiet moments, when no one is looking. It’s Dad waking at midnight when his grandson is sick (every single time for 6 nights straight, helping me clean the vomit, change the bed, lower the temperatures).”
Phoebe paid tribute to her father for “taking your scared baby girl in, with her two babies, when she had nowhere else in the world to go” following her and Sam’s messy split.
“You’ve been there since the beginning and every moment in between. Thank you, Dad.
We love you,” she wrote.
Elsewhere, the mother-of-two heaped praise on her father for being a doting role model to her young kids.
“It’s scone Sundays for Poppy, it’s giving up his bed for a rogue toddler who wants his spot, it’s roasting marshmallows inside (even when The Cats are playing), it’s teaching and leading by daily example whether it’s learning to care for an animal or a veggie patch,” her post read.
Last year the 32-year-old has opened up about her split to Stellar magazine, revealing she often thinks of what could have been.
“I had an idea about how I wanted them to grow up and that’s not going to happen now,” she said.
“But I’m adjusting and I embrace being their mum every day. And if that’s being a single mum, then I’ll embrace that as well.
“I’m just trying to… make sure they’re surrounded by love, regardless of how that family looks.”
The former journalist and influencer went on to tell the publication that her two kids are her main focus.
“I don’t have the luxury of falling apart or breaking down or booking a ticket and leaving. I have two children who depend on me day in, day out,” she revealed.
Phoebe and Sam wed in a lavish ceremony in the New South Wales Southern Highlands in December 2015.
They initially split in December 2018, but soon rekindled their romance before calling it quits in October 2019.
Phoebe is currently based in Bowral with the couple’s two young children, Poppy and Billy, and lives at her parents’ estate there.
Sam is meanwhile living in a rented apartment in Coogee with his brother Luke and still owns a two-bedroom apartment in Little Bay, where his mother Julie lives.
In recent years, Sam has made headlines following his divorce with Phoebe after five years of marriage.
Sam drew attention again in February this year, after he was found guilty of intimidation against Phoebe’s father. However, that decision was later overturned in the New South Wales District Court.
In a sneak peek for the upcoming season of SAS Australia, the 32-year-old candidly revealed that he had “lost it all”.
“I’ve lost my career, my kids and my marriage,” he confessed in the clip.
“There was a police investigation into me. I turned to drinking, drugs… I’ve lost it all.”
