‘Manipulative’ divorce lawyers draw Lineker fire
GARY Lineker has criticised the cost and complexity of getting a divorce and accused lawyers of manipulating the system for gain.
The Match of the Day presenter has hit out just months after his second marriage, to Cardiff actress and model Danielle Bux, ended in January.
Lineker, 55, accused solicitors of fuelling acrimony between divorcing couples to increase their profits and suggested the process of annulment could be simplified by leaving the pricey process of litigation to a mathematical equation.
The Walkers ambassador, who also denied crisps were responsible for rising obesity among young people, made the comments in an interview with the Radio Times.
He said: “Just generally speaking, it’s very easy to get married and very difficult to get divorced. And we know that lawyers try to manipulate it to make you spend more money and basically end up hating each other.”
The former England footballer separated amicably from the mother of his four sons, Michelle Cockayne, in 2006 after two decades of marriage. He went on to marry Danielle Bux in Ravello, Italy, in September 2009, after they had dated for two years. The pair divorced in January.
At the time Lineker said that they had “had many wonderful years together” and remained “very close and the greatest of friends”.
Bux, 36, echoed the sentiment, saying that she cherished the “incredible” years they had spent together.
The couple used an online service to arrange their divorce and were granted a decree nisi at Southampton County Court.