Chris Pullin has told the Daily Mail that he would prefer influencer Ellidy Pullin change her last name, following news of her engagement to Brock Wadsworth.
Ellidy, who was in a longterm relationship with Chris’ son Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, before Chumpy’s tragic death in 2020 from a shallow water blackout, previously spoke out about being cut from Ellidy, and his granddaughter Minnie’s, lives.
He previously alleged that Ellidy blocked the family on social media and did not reach out to him after the death of his wife, and Chumpy’s mum, Sally, in 2025.
‘It’s been her cash cow’: Chumpy Pullin’s dad, Chris, reacts to Ellidy’s engagement announcement
After Ellidy announced her engagement earlier this week, Chris said that why he’d like Ellidy to change her last name, he doesn’t believe she will.
“I don’t think she’ll change her name, because it’s her whole persona; it’s been her cash cow,” he told Daily Mail.
“She is a Pullin, but she’s not,” he continued.
“They weren’t married. I hate it, but what do I do. All I can say is, ‘What would Chumpy think about that?’ It annoys me because it’s out of our control.
“The Pullin family is very much still in existence. There are about 30 of us. She has no relationship with any of us other than my daughter.”
Chris went on to say that he doesn’t know where Ellidy and Minnie now live and that he’s still blocked on social media.
“I don’t have any relationship with either of them [Ellidy and Minnie],” he said. “I don’t see anything because it’s all blocked. I don’t even know where they live.”
He also said that he had never been happy about Ellidy sharing Minnie’s life to her 377,000 followers.
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“It was never Chumpy’s style. He would hate that,” he said, before saying he felt sorry for Brock, Ellidy’s partner, because “it’s going to end badly.”
“But I suppose this might create more space between us and her talking about Chumpy, because that will be a bit hard when you’re married to someone else.”
What initially ignited the Pullin feud
According to Chris, the couple’s relationship with Ellidy, 33, soured in May 2024.
Chris had emailed the board of the Chumpy Pullin Foundation with his concerns that it was no longer focused on its initial purpose, supporting youths in sport.
Its focus having shifted to mental health, he argued that it insinuated that his son had taken his own life – negatively impacting his legacy.
It’s at this point, he speculates, that Ellidy – who co-founded the Foundation – blocked the couple’s joint phone number soon after.
“After that [email], we came to understand we could no longer contact Ellidy,” Chris said.
“Our calls were not going through.”
While Ellidy hasn’t explicitly addressed the alleged falling out with Chumpy’s family, she’s made it clear her focus is firmly on her daughter.
In a video shared to social media, Minnie called her mum her “hero” before pulling her in for a cuddle.
A subsequent Instagram Story saw Ellidy write over a photo of the pair, “You, my little girl, are the greatest gift in the world and I will protect you at all costs.”
Carrying on Chumpy’s legacy
Ellidy famously retrieved Chumpy’s sperm hours after his shock death in order to conceive his child.
As she was never married to the Olympian, his parents signed an affidavit allowing the retrieval.
She went on to legally change her surname to Pullin before welcoming daughter Minnie in October 2021.
Chris, who lives in Eden, NSW, revealed he has only been able to see his Gold Coast-based granddaughter a handful of times since her birth.
Their first meeting, he says, was in Sydney in late 2021, while Sally was undergoing cancer treatment.
Ellidy, who juggles being a model, influencer and podcast with being a solo parent, travelled from their home in Queensland with Minnie, who was about six weeks old, for the meeting.
“It was very lovely of Ellidy to do that,” Chris said.
“Sally was over the moon about that little baby, and her resemblance to Chump.”
On the second anniversary of Chumpy’s death, Ellidy shared a carousel of sweet photos of herself and Minnie enjoying family time with Minnie’s grandparents.
Losing the love of his life
Reflecting on Sally’s death, Chris recalls she passed peacefully in his arms while lying together on her favourite lounge at their home in Eden, overlooking Aslings Beach.
“She was at peace,” he said. “She looked like she was asleep.”
Carrying her up to Chumpy’s bedroom, he spent one last night holding his wife in their son’s bed before calling an ambulance the next morning.
“For me, that night was really important,” he explained. “I didn’t want to be in a hurry [for her to go] when it happened.”
Following the loss of both the love of his life – who he met aged 14 and began dating aged 18 – and their beloved son, Chris says he’s struggling with loneliness.
“I am just so lonely,” he admitted.
“Sal was 62 when we lost Chumpy and our lives stopped.
“She died at 68, but she really didn’t get to enjoy her sixties and what we expected to be our happy retirement.”
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