NRL star issues apology for ‘sexist’ post about his pregnant fiancée

Jarrod Wallace has defended himself after his social media post prompted backlash for being ‘sexist’. 

On Sunday, the NRL star, 31, captioned a post of his heavily pregnant fiancée Shannon Wells, ‘You look real good cooking our little boy, but even better when you’re washing my clothes.’ 

But amid the ensuing backlash, the Dolphins prop returned to social media to address the issue.

Taking to his Instagram Stories on Monday, Wallace captioned an image of himself kissing Wells, ‘I am sorry to anyone that possibly took offence to an innocent inside joke between my fiancé [sic] and I, I now know that I need to better elaborate any posts with intended humour in future.’

‘It was not my intention, but to clarify, it is an ongoing joke between us,’ he continued.

‘I am a proud dad and step-dad to our four beautiful little girls, also the most empowering of my beautiful fiancé and would never want anyone to have an opinion I am sexist or promoting sexism as a public figure.’

‘My fiancé is the heart of our home and goes above for me and the girls, I love and respect her more than you can imagine.’

‘That being said, misinterpretation of an inside joke does not give strangers permission to send threatening messages to either myself or Shannon, threatening the wellbeing of our daughters and unborn child.’

‘Those matters will now be dealt with legally and will investigated by police.’ 

The lengthy post came in the wake of Jarrod’s allegedly sexist comment about his heavily pregnant fiancée. 

Following the barrage of criticism, Wallace was quick to change the message to: ‘Take 2 – my beautiful fiancé looking gorgeous while cooking our baby boy. 

‘Also, for anyone concerned about my first post, it was an inside joke between us.’

Despite quickly deleting the sexist remark, the backlash didn’t let up with one person writing: ‘Sometimes it’s best to keep an inside joke inside.’

Another goaded: ‘Bring back the first post.’ 

It’s an inside joke for a reason, for it to be kept between the two of you. Usually, if you’re a public figure, you’d think about what you’re typing before you post it,’ someone else said.

The Dolphins player’s partner Shannon stepped in to do damage control, commenting: ‘Well, thankfully you do the washing honey, along with everything else while I’m nauseous.’

However, the damage was already done as Jarrod was forced to switch off the comments on his post to avoid further online hate. 

It comes just weeks after Jarrod announced he was welcoming his fourth child to a third mother following his marriage breakdown with Courtney Thorpe last June. 

Jarrod shares daughters Peyton, seven, and Lara, nine, with a former partner, as well as daughter Kennedy, three, with Courtney.