James Hird’s wife Tania has revealed how she celebrated her birthday just days after her shock split from the footy legend emerged.
The end of the couple’s 27-year marriage shocked the footy world when it came to light last week, with sources saying they remain on good terms.
It has been claimed that their separation was kept out of the public eye for more than a year, and James is believed to have already moved out of their family home.
Just days after the news emerged, Tania took to Instagram to give an insight into how she celebrated her birthday.
The founder of hair accessories business HairFlare revealed she was taken out for dinner by her son Tom at the upmarket Melbourne restaurant Maison Bâtard.
She shared an array of photographs from the occasion as she gushed over being able to celebrate her birthday with ‘one of my favorite people’.
James Hird’s wife Tania has revealed how she celebrated her birthday just days after her shock split from the footy legend emerged
The end of the couple’s 27-year marriage shocked the footy world when it came to light last week, with sources saying they remain on good terms (they are pictured in 2006)
For the night, former lawyer Tania cut a glamorous figure in a black strapped dress, which she styled with chunky gold earrings.
She appeared to be in good spirits as she flashed a huge smile while sitting across the table from her son, who looked smart in a black polo shirt.
Tania shared a glimpse at their very high-end meal as she tucked into a delicious pasta dish while Tom had sandwiches at the prestigious restaurant.
In a caption, she gushed: ‘A delightful belated birthday dinner and musical evening, hosted by the very special @tomhird.
‘It was an incredibly fun and engaging night with one of my favorite people.
‘I paired my chic black linen dress with the vibrant Hibiscus collection from @taniahirddesigns for some instant vibrance and colour!’ (sic)
As well as Tom, Tania also shares two other sons Alex and William and a daughter Stephanie with her now-ex-husband James.
Last week, it emerged that Tania and the Essendon legend had gone their separate ways after 27 years of marriage.
Just days after the news emerged, Tania took to Instagram to reveal how she celebrated her birthday, having dinner with her son Tom at the upmarket Melbourne restaurant Maison Bâtard
The couple were together through the highs and lows of James’ on-field career, from him being lauded as the game’s best player to the 2013 Bombers drugs scandal.
They are believed to have kept their split a secret for more than a year and James is understood to have moved out of their family home in the exclusive Toorak suburb.
Four weeks before the news was made public, Tania shared an Instagram post to her design business’ account, with eagle-eyed fans noticing she wasn’t wearing her wedding ring.
There was also no sign of James when she shared photographs from her trip to Vietnam with their three sons last October.
However, she was wearing her wedding band in another post for her fashion business in September, and she and James remain on amicable terms, according to News Corp.
James has previously spoken about how his wife Tania was a huge support to him in the aftermath of the famous 2013 Bombers scandal, which saw him hit ‘rock bottom’.
After he retired as an AFL player, he famously took up work with a leading sports management company before becoming head coach of Essendon in 2011.
However, initial success came to a screaming halt in February 2013 when the allegations of illegal drug and supplement use by his players were revealed.
As well as Tom, Tania also shares two other sons Alex and William (all pictured) and a daughter Stephanie with her now-ex-husband James
James and Tania (pictured in 2014) are believed to have kept their split a secret for more than a year and James is understood to have moved out of their family home in the Toorak suburb
With James at the helm, Essendon were at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the history of Australian sport, with 34 players found guilty on appeal of taking performance-enhancing drugs across the 2012 AFL season.
James was suspended from Essendon in August 2013 for 12 months, and he went on to quit as coach of the Bombers in August 2015.
He has since opened up about the shattering effects of the scandal, revealing he thought about taking his own life and praising Tania for keeping their family together.
‘I remember sitting on my kitchen floor and everyone’s gone to bed, my wife’s upstairs, the kids are in bed, and I am sitting there, just crying on the ground,’ he said in 2020.
‘You’re just grieving for this life you had. As much as I was glad to retire because I’m sick of being sore… there was this grieving process.
‘I really felt for my wife because she was trying to hold our family together.
‘She’s a very proud person and also very defensive of me because she obviously saw me going through a lot.’
James first admitted he needed help when he called the Beyond Blue helpline in 2015, but it wasn’t until two years later that he realised he couldn’t ‘dig himself out’.
The couple stuck together through the devastating effects of the Essendon drugs scandal, which broke in 2013. James is pictured coaching the Bombers in 2015
James was rushed to hospital in January 2017 after he overdosed on prescription drugs at his Toorak family home, before being transferred to a specialist mental health facility.
‘Over the past four years, I have been short-tempered, distant, hard to live with, rude at times, and ill,’ he admitted at the time.
He left the Bombers in 2015 but applied for the club’s head coaching role again when Ben Rutten was moved on in 2022, however he ultimately lost out on the job to Brad Scott.
He was also poised to take the coaching role at VFL club Port Melbourne, but decided to become the director of coaching due to business commitments.
But in a huge career success this year, James will be returning to TV on Channel Nine’s Sunday night show Footy Furnace alongside fellow AFL great, Jimmy Bartel.
James is regarded as one of the best Australian Rules players ever, winning just about every title and accolade the game has to offer in a 15-year career that saw him play 253 games for the Dons.
A member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, he jointly won the Brownlow Medal as the game’s best and fairest player, and he was named in the club’s team of the century in 1997.
