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Former NRL player Luke Bateman broke down in tears after opening up on how a crippling gambling addiction forced him to ask his mother to pay for his mortgage.
The former Canberra Raiders star, who also appeared in season 11 of The Bachelor in 2023, lifted the lid on how he was left broke, despite being on a bumper NRL contract.
The 30-year-old’s career in the NRL ended back in 2019, after he sustained a significant knee injury. But since then, Bateman has grown to become a social media sensation, particularly among Australian women, taking to TikTok to publish reviews of romance novels.
During a recent interview with Triple J’s Hack, Bateman, who currently works as a logging contractor living in a rural caravan in the Queensland outback, explained that at one stage in his career, he was earning around $400,000-per-season to play footy.
Bateman, who currently works as a logging contractor living in a rural caravan in the Queensland outback, explained that at one stage in his career, he was earning around $400,000-per-season to play footy.
He bravely opened up on the subject, stating that he had suffered from depression and a gambling addiction, which he described as ‘debilitating’, adding that he had bet hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Former AFL star and TikTok sensation Luke Bateman (pictured) broke down in tears during an episode of A Current Affair on Wednesday
The former Canberra Raiders star, who is set to launch his own book, opened up on how he was forced to rely on his mum to pay his mortgage, while he struggled with a gambling addiction
Bateman, who now works as a logger in rural Queensland, has exploded on social media after the former footy player started uploading book reviews on his TikTok
Now, during an interview with Nine's Current Affair, the former Raiders star explained that he could barely afford to buy groceries, before opening up on the pain he felt at having to ask his mother to help him through the dark period.
'I was on a very high income in the NRL and I had no money in the bank,' Bateman said to A Current Affair.
'My mum was paying my mortgage for me. I couldn't buy groceries. I would go a day without eating because I simply could not buy food.
The ex-footballer, who has this week launched a new book review podcast with Channel Nine, called ‘In the Good Books With Luke Bateman’, heartbreakingly then broke down in tears.
‘It does make me teary because of mum. She gave me life and she also saved my life,’ he said, wiping tears from his eyes.
‘To cause her so much pain, it hurts me a lot,’ he added.
The issue eventually came to a head and Bateman realised he had to make a change.
‘It actually got to the point where I said: “This goes one or two ways, it either ends up with me in a coffin or I get help,’ he said.
He is also a former contestant on the Bachelor, but opened up on how he suffered from depression during his career
Bateman, 30, was on the books of the Canberra Raiders (pictured) between 2015 and 2019, earning a reported $400,000 per season at his peak
During the interview, Bateman added that his mother was proud of what he has achieved since then, with Bateman now in the process of writing his very own fantasy novel.
While not revealing too much about the project, the TikToker revealed that after his day job as a logger and harvester, he comes home and works late into the night, working on his upcoming book.
It is a demanding schedule, with the former Queensland U20 State of Origin star, who made 71 appearances for the Raiders between 2015 and 2019, revealing the heartwarming reason why he is motivated to keep striving to be better each day.
‘There are two people whose opinion matters - and that's your 12-year-old self and your 80-year-old self,’ Luke said.
‘And those two people are the people that I wake up and do things for every day, because I want my 12-year-old self to be proud of me and I want my 80-year-old self to be proud of me.’
