He has been unwillingly thrust into the media glare following his wife Tess’s alleged affair with his close friend, untouchable Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale.
But while lurid details of the entanglement have been splashed across headlines, the husband at the centre of it all, Ben Crosley, has remained stoically silent.
Since the story broke last month, the investment company director has avoided making any public comments – even as speculation about the state of his marriage gathered pace.
Now back in Brisbane after a recent trip to Bali – where he was understood to have been inspecting real estate – Ben has returned to the family home in Camp Hill.
I briefly spoke with him there on Sunday afternoon when I knocked on his door to ask if his wife was around and had anything to say.
Poking his head out the door, Ben made it clear he wouldn’t be holding any press conferences. But with just six ice-cold words, he left little room for doubt as to whether he and Tess were still together.
Ben Crosley (centre) has been unwillingly thrust into the media glare following his wife Tess’s (left) alleged affair with his close friend, Brisbane Lions star Lachie Neale (right)
Ben (pictured left on December 21) said ‘she does not live here anymore’ when I knocked on his door to ask about his wife Tess (seen right, on January 3)
‘She [Tess] does not live here anymore,’ he said.
The last time the Crosleys were pictured together at the Camp Hill property was on New Year’s Eve. Our photographer caught Tess peering down from an upstairs window as her husband answered the front door to Queensland Police.
Ben was shirtless when two officers arrived shortly before 1.30pm, carrying an unidentified long black lockable piece of luggage and two additional long black fabric bags, all of which were handed to him.
While Ben stood with his arms crossed, speaking to police, Tess pulled the curtains aside to watch the scene unfold. The reason for police attendance remains unclear and there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing.
While Ben wouldn’t comment further on the state of his marriage on Sunday, I can reveal more details about Tess and Lachie’s alleged affair.
In early December – weeks before Lachie’s wife Jules Neale publicly accused her husband of betraying her in the most ‘unimaginable’ way – a coffee run in Brisbane’s inner-east raised eyebrows.
A local claims she spotted Lachie – then a back-to-back premiership-winning AFL captain with an unblemished reputation – stroll into a popular café with a mystery brunette and his two young children in tow.
The café was The Grumpy Monkey Roasters in Norman Park, a spot known to be a favourite of Jules.
A local told me that Lachie and Tess were seen meeting at The Grumpy Monkey Roasters café in Norman Park – a favourite spot of Lachie’s wife Jules, who was seen there on December 30
Lachie Neale is seen at the Grumpy Monkey café in 2024. An eyewitness who saw him and Tess there together assumed the brunette with ‘piercing blue eyes’ was the family’s babysitter
The eyewitness told me she had initially assumed the raven-haired woman – described as having ‘piercing blue eyes’ – was the family’s babysitter, given there were no other children present to suggest a playdate.
But a comment she overheard from the woman set alarm bells ringing.
‘She said, “What happens if somebody photographs us together?”‘ the source said.
‘That’s when I knew something was up.’
The witness assumed at the time that Lachie and his wife must have separated and that their split had yet to be made public.
It was only weeks later, after reports of a marital breakdown surfaced following Jules’s explosive Instagram post, that the source connected the dots.
‘I realised [the brunette] was Tess when her photo was suddenly everywhere,’ the local said.
‘That’s when I knew she wasn’t the babysitter – she was the other woman.’
The saga of Lachie and Jules’ marriage split began days before Christmas when reports emerged suggesting the AFL glamour couple were ‘working through’ unspecified marital issues.
Jules swiftly shut down the narrative on social media, writing: ‘I want to make it very clear that I am not “working through” anything.
‘I have been betrayed in the most unimaginable way.’
The post triggered weeks of speculation, with Tess – a former Mormon missionary and married mother of one – emerging as a central figure after Jules publicly demanded she remove photos from Instagram of her and Lachie taken at last year’s AFL Grand Final.
‘Take these down, you idiot, you’re embarrassing yourself,’ Jules wrote in a since-deleted comment.
The two estranged couples are pictured at last year’s AFL grand final. Tess’ knee is touching Lachie’s as he holds up his medal
Jules has recently moved back to Perth while Lachie is living in a Brisbane rental on his own
The alleged affair was not, of course, confined to a single coffee outing.
Last week, a source claimed to have witnessed Tess and Lachie looking affectionate at their local gym Total Fusion, in the affluent Brisbane suburb of Newstead.
‘I go to Total Fusion gym, where Lachie is a member, and for months he has been very affectionate… with that Tess woman,’ they said.
‘They did not try to hide it… I assumed he was separated because of it.’
Lachie confirmed the end of his marriage at a press conference at Brighton Homes Arena on January 2, where he also relinquished his role as co-captain of the Lions.
‘While I will not go into specifics, I can say that I have let my family down,’ he said.
‘I apologise for my actions, which have hurt those closest to me, and I am deeply sorry.’
He added that rebuilding trust and prioritising the wellbeing of his children would remain his focus.
The press conference took a tense turn when a reporter asked directly: ‘Did you cheat on your wife?’
‘I cannot address those rumours,’ Lachie replied.
Last week, it emerged the alleged affair was going on for at least three months before the pair were spotted by another Lions WAG, who then broke the news to Jules.
Since making a public statement and stepping down as co-captain, Lachie has moved into a Brisbane rental and is understood to be living alone.
Jules and the couple’s two children have returned to her home town of Perth, where she was seen having lunch with friends on Friday.