Sam Burgess’ ex-wife Phoebe reveals a hidden detail in this seemingly innocent family photo – and says her Instagram posts often have secret double meanings
Former rugby league WAG Phoebe Burgess (née Hooke) has revealed her carefully curated Instagram posts often contain hidden meanings.
She said her picture-perfect family snaps taken at her family’s Bowral estate are her way of communicating to fans that she’s coping well – despite her bitter split from ex-Rabbitohs star Sam Burgess 18 months ago and subsequent legal dramas.
Phoebe, 31, explained that her social media followers can decode her ‘secret messages’ by cross-referencing her posts with media reports about her personal life.
She told The Daily Telegraph: ‘If I post a picture [on Instagram] and if people are aware via the media that something isn’t right, they know that for me getting up, getting dressed, showing up and just having a presence signifies a bit of strength.’
The former journalist added: ‘I get messages like, “Well done. Keep going.”‘
Indeed, a photo Phoebe posted in October last year was widely seen as her ‘breaking her silence’ on a report that had just been published in The Australian about her ex-husband’s allegedly wild lifestyle. (Burgess strongly denied the allegations.)
She shared two photos of herself and her children at her family’s Southern Highlands farm, and wrote: ‘Finding joy in the little things and my little people.
‘Simply because I was silent doesn’t mean I didn’t hear you, thank you for your kindness. Means the world to us.’
Phoebe also revealed that moving back in with her parents, Mitchell and Sarah Hooke, following her marriage breakdown had given her ‘a new appreciation for what I do have and what’s good’.
The mother of two acknowledged there’s a lot of pressure on women to ‘do everything on your own’, but said asking her family for help in her time of need was actually a ‘sign of strength’.
The Burgesses separated in October 2019, after previously splitting in December 2018 just weeks after the birth of their son, Billy, and reconciling four months later.
The former couple, who are also parents to four-year-old daughter Poppy, had married in December 2015. Their divorce was finalised late last year.
Since their separation, Sam Burgess has faced legal dramas concerning an argument with his father-in-law Mitchell Hooke at the Hooke family home in October 2019.
The former NRL player was found guilty of intimidating Mr Hooke, but this verdict was subsequently overturned.