The Block’s former star Darren Jolly has broken his silence to thank everyone for their ‘overwhelming’ support after his worrying disappearance and fears for his welfare.
Earlier this week, the 38-year-old former AFL star shared a candid picture taken at the beach and revealed watching the waves helped to clear his head amid a bitter legal stoush with his estranged wife, Deanne.
Jolly revealed he hadn’t spent much time with his two daughters Scarlett and Lily during Melbourne’s coronavirus lockdown or since his separation from their mother.
There were concerns over his wellbeing on October 26 after the father-of-two shared a worrying tribute to his girls and admitted he ‘can’t go on much longer’.
But on Tuesday, Jolly appeared to have reflected on his struggles and thanked ‘everyone who sent messages of love and support’.
Darren shared a series of photographs with his children (pictured), and said he felt he had reached breaking point in a worrying post on October 26
‘Sitting on the sand yesterday looking out into the ocean was perfect mentally and something I’ll do more of,’ Jolly said alongside this photograph on Tuesday
‘It certainly was overwhelming and much appreciated,’ he said.
‘Sitting on the sand yesterday looking out into the ocean was perfect mentally and something I’ll do more of.’
The post attracted thousands of messages from friends, family and fans who have followed along with his journey.
Jolly has been transparent about his struggles with his mental health since the deterioration of his 15-year marriage.
Melbourne funnyman Dave Hughes, who also briefly appeared on The Block when he purchased one of the properties in 2017, reached out to offer his support.
‘Hate to get all guru but meditation mate,’ he suggested.
‘Stare at a wall for 20 mins a day. Set an alarm. It’s all noise.’
Reality bites: Darren and Deanne were popular contestants on Channel Nine’s renovation series The Block, appearing twice in 2014 and 2015, and winning the latter season
Ash Pollard, Shelley Craft and last year’s winner of The Block Tess Struber also offered their support.
The post is a promising sign for the former reality television star, who sparked a frenzied search when friends and family couldn’t get in contact with him after he made the worrying post.
‘I’m done, the unbearable pain of not seeing my beautiful girls … is too much to cope with,’ he wrote alongside several photos of his girls on October 26.
‘Looking back through these photos broke what little I have left of my heart as it showed how much my girls loved me.’
Jolly wrote that he had reached breaking point and said he ‘can’t go on any longer’.
‘To my parents, my family, my friends, Lucy, I love you. To my girls, I’m sorry. My love will always be in your heart. Love Dad xx.’
Missing his girls: The 38-year-old former The Block star claimed in an Instagram post it had been ‘months’ since he’d last spoken to his children, Scarlett and Lily (pictured)
Darren and Deanne (pictured) announced their split in September last year after 15 years of marriage
Several people called Victoria Police to ask them to perform a welfare check.
After spending hours trying to get in touch with him, his manager Paul Connors said the former Collingwood premiership player had been found safe and well around 8.30pm that night – almost two hours after the initial post.
He thanked everyone for their help in sharing calls for help finding him.
Mr Connors was Darren’s manager during his 13-year-long AFL career, in which he also played for Melbourne and Sydney.
Victoria Police would not comment on the matter.
Jolly is in the midst of a legal battle with his ex-wife, but the case was expected to be adjourned along with thousands of other criminal hearings as Melbourne’s struggling court system continues to work its way through a backlog of cases following the suspension of jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Daily Mail Australia also revealed last week that Deanne faces near identical charges to her ex.
The nature of the charges cannot be published due to legal reasons.
The Block star Darren Jolly (pictured with estranged wife Deanne) was found safe almost two hours after posting a concerning tribute to his children ahead of a messy court stoush
Darren and Deanne featured twice on The Block before their marriage broke down
The couple announced their split in September last year after 15 years of marriage.
Jolly has made no secret of his battle with mental illness since the split.
In February, he spoke candidly at Collingwood’s annual general meeting about his business troubles and the breakdown of his marriage.
‘Spending three weeks in a mental facility to deal with depression. Leaving my 15-year marriage because I fell out of love and wanted a happier life,’ he said at the time.
He told his former teammates his mental health became so bad around that time that he ‘almost did something stupid and ended [his] life’.
‘Everything was too much to handle and I lost control. I lost my drive to keep going, I lost my purpose in life, I lost my direction and I lost my path. I thought it was easier just to go,’ he confessed.
At the depths of his struggle, he admitted himself to hospital and described it as the ‘best thing [he] could have done’.
In February, he spoke candidly about his business troubles and the breakdown of his marriage at AFL club Collingwood’s annual general meeting
Jolly confessed he hasn’t seen his children for ‘about 14 months’ since his separation with their mother
It was the same month Jolly claimed he hadn’t been in contact with his two daughters Scarlett and Lily ‘for months’.
‘To my daughters, I miss you like crazy and just want to hold you,’ he posted on Instagram.
The couple had been popular contestants on Channel Nine’s renovation series The Block, appearing twice in 2014 and 2015, and winning the latter season.
In a statement to the Herald Sun last year, Deanne confirmed the pair’s acrimonious split and claimed Jolly was the one who instigated it.
‘This is a very difficult time for me and my girls. We have been blindsided and left devastated by Darren’s action. But I’m focusing on my two daughters, who are my number one priority,’ she said at the time.
In another Instagram post earlier this year, Jolly hinted he was going through a difficult time.
He shared a quote that read: ‘The truth always comes out in the end no matter how hard you try to hide it or stop it. Lies are just a temporary delay to the inevitable.’
In a post on Instagram in November, Jolly claimed he had fallen into a ‘dark hole’ following his marriage breakdown.
‘To everyone who helped put me in that hole, go f**k yourself,’ he added.
‘To my daughters, I miss you like crazy and just want to hold you,’ he wrote. Pictured with Lily
In the months before the couple split, he lost a staggering 16kg and underwent a complete body transformation.
The couple, who were known as ‘Daz and Dea’ on The Block, had married in 2004 and moved to Sydney the following year as he was traded to the Swans.
The duo’s arguments became infamous during their time on the Channel 9 series, and the pair previously opened up about their sometimes turbulent relationship in their audition tape to appear on the show.
‘Sometimes he’s a bit insensitive,’ Deanne insisted.
Jolly noted: ‘She can be short… she can snap.’
Back then, Deanne remained confident that nothing ever got malicious, adding: ‘We don’t mean to say anything that’s mean’.
Despite all their hard work in the 2015 season of The Block, the couple walked away with a profit of just $10,000.
They bounced back the following year, taking away a whopping $935,000 after they returned to take part in The Block: Triple Threat.
That sum made them the show’s biggest winners in history.
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