Since opening up about his estrangement from Ellidy Pullin, Chris Pullin has been the target of trolls.
An anonymous user on Facebook claimed Chris had started a relationship with a 21-year-old woman who had moved into his home in Eden, NSW just one month after his wife Sally died of central nervous system lymphoma in April last year.
But Chris has set the record straight, saying the woman, Charli, who he met through Sally, is a dear friend he’s teaching to sail and does not live with him.
“I don’t think the rumour warrants a response because it was anonymous, but I will so I can put it to bed,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I guess if you are a small-minded gossip, you might feel empowered by making such allegations without any evidence and probably don’t even know me. All I can say is… f*** you.”
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HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ELLIDY
Chris, who is still reeling from Sally’s passing, as well as his son and Winter Olympic snowboarder Alex “Chumpy” Pullin’s accidental drowning in 2020, revealed he had a joke with Charli’s mum about the ‘ridiculous’ rumour.
“This is hurtful. My home still feels like Sally is in the next room,” he said.
“I didn’t love with Sally all my life and describe us as two halves of one whole to be suddenly rushed off my feet in six months. I mean, seriously?”
After Chumpy’s death, Sally and Chris shared a strong relationship with their ‘daughter-in-law’ Ellidy, who they allowed to retrieve Chumpy’s sperm just after his death to conceive his child.
But that strong relationship rapidly deteriorated when Chris and Sally expressed concerns to the board of the now-defunct Chumpy Pullin Foundation, which Ellidy co-founded, in May 2024 about the shift from supporting youths in sports to mental health advocacy.
Chris speculates Ellidy blocked their calls from that point on – and says he’s only seen his granddaughter Minnie a handful of times since she was born in 2021.
At the time of writing, Ellidy has not responded to the rumours posted online and is not responsible for them.
She also has not publicly commented on her estrangement from Chris, but has made it clear her focus is firmly on her daughter.
“You, my little girl, are the greatest gift in the world and I will protect you at all costs,” Ellidy wrote in social media post.
THE MAGIC HE AND SALLY HAD
For Chris, mentoring young people like Charli has given him purpose, and revealed going for walks with Charli are sometimes the only things that get him out of the house.
He also tearfully revealed that finding love again is not on the cards.
“People have said, ‘In time, Chris you might meet someone’, but I don’t imagine that’s going to happen. I don’t need it for myself,” he said.
“I certainly would feel finding love again would be a betrayal of the relationship between Sally and I. I wouldn’t, couldn’t do anything to hurt that magic that Sal and I had all our lives.”
