There was one woman at the centre of Gary Lineker’s feud with his brother Wayne
Fasika Zelealem Senior Sports Reporter
08:00, 30 Nov 2025
Wayne and Gary Lineker barely spoke for 17 years in the bitter feud between the brothers(Image: Instagram)
Gary and Wayne Lineker once enjoyed a healthy brotherly relationship. The England great, who turns 65 today, is a year-and-a-half older than his entrepreneur brother who has established a name for himself thanks to his business in the club scene.
Growing up together in Leicester, the pair remained close in their adult years, having previously met up twice a week to enjoy a game of golf and regularly spoke to each other on the phone.
Their sibling kinship seemed as strong as can be but a complete breakdown in their relationship resulted in a 17-year feud where they barely talked to one another. Their almost two-decade quarrel was sparked after the former Match of the Day host began dating ex-wife Danielle Bux in 2008, according to Wayne.
Speaking to The Sun in April 2015, Wayne said: “In my opinion, Danielle cost me my relationship with my brother. Sadly Gary is no longer a part of my life.” The 63-year-old claimed the abrupt end to their weekly phone calls and home visits within just a year left him confused but laid the blame on his first meeting with the model.
“They came to Ibiza in August 2008 and it was really awkward. I didn’t spark with Danielle and our relationship was cold,” Wayne added. He claimed she had stayed in her room for the entirety of the first day and the pair didn’t exchange a single word the next evening on a night out.
Gary and Wayne Lineker had a close relationship before their fallout
The holiday in Spain ended up being the last time he spoke to Danielle and while he was present at Gary’s first wedding to ex-wife Michelle Cockayne in 1986, he didn’t attend his second wedding in 2009.
Wayne’s no-show at Gary’s nuptials was down to his then-girlfriend, model Ana Tanaka, not being invited to the big day, which he took a stand against. “He was my brother and he was telling me that I couldn’t bring my girlfriend of a year and a half to his wedding. She was a lovely, polite girl, and not a five-minute girlfriend,” Wayne explained.
An attempt to fashion a reconciliation on Gary’s 50th birthday with a phone call lasted less than a minute and it left Wayne in no mans land when it came to a reunion with his older brother. He previously admitted: “I would love nothing more than him to call me up tomorrow and ask to go to lunch to speak about it, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
The club owner has reunited with his older brother(Image: Instagram)
However, a tide began to turn in August 2017 when Wayne revealed that the pair were finally on speaking terms, albeit it wasn’t a complete return to their prior relationship before their feud was sparked. “We talk now,” Wayne revealed at the time.
“We are not how we were years and years ago, but we speak more now,” Wayne told The Sunday Mirror. “We are slowly getting there. It’s important. He’s my brother. We were so close. We used to play golf twice a week, go to each other’s houses and speak every day on the phone.”
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However, in news that certainly warmed the hearts of the nation, the brothers finally ended their dispute as they posed together at the wedding of Wayne’s daughter Tia this past summer.
Tia, 26, married Harry Agombar in Majorca and was walked down the aisle by her father who wore a dapper black suit for the occasion. Wayne took to Instagram to post the photo of him and Gary, captioning the snap: “Great to see my bro and my nephews at my daughters wedding.”
