- AFL legend Rex Hunt diagnosed with dementia
- Follows bipolar depression diagnosis in 2017
- 74-year-old is a long standing TV and radio identity
AFL icon and popular Australian television host Rex Hunt has been diagnosed with dementia.
It comes after the 74-year-old has endured a number of health setbacks in recent years, including confirmation he was suffering from bipolar depression back in 2017.
Hunt’s wife Lynne confirmed her husband’s condition on Wednesday.
‘We are dealing with this as a family and are giving him love and support,’ she told News Corp.
‘He is fit, in good spirits and looking forward to going fishing again soon.
AFL icon and popular Australian television host Rex Hunt has been diagnosed with dementia
It comes after Hunt, 74, endured a number of health setbacks in recent years, including confirmation he was suffering from bipolar depression back in 2017
‘Thousands of families around Australia have loved ones living with dementia and we are no different from any of them.’
In September, the two-time VFL premiership winner with Richmond checked himself into a Melbourne clinic to receive treatment for his mental health.
It followed Hunt opening up about his personal struggles on a podcast with fellow footy identity Sam Newman, where he confirmed his mental health went downhill after he got hooked on opioids seven years ago while taking strong painkillers following surgery for a debilitating neck injury.
‘Life will never ever be the same,’ Hunt stated.
‘Mental illness is a nasty word for some, but until it happens to you, I had no idea the ups and downs your mind goes through when you are suffering what I am suffering [from].
‘It is a chemical imbalance in the brain and I have been diagnosed with bipolar depression, high highs and low lows.
‘I am in a very difficult place at the moment because it is difficult to try and get everyone together when you are trying to get yourself together.’
Hunt’s wife Lynne confirmed her husband’s condition on Wednesday (he is pictured, left, with Richmond superstar Dustin Martin after the Tigers won the 2017 AFL Grand Final
In July of 2022, Hunt was captured on dashcam footage grabbing a garden fork and pursuing a man while calling out ‘do you want to die’.
A number of social media rants the past few years also have raised questions about Hunt’s fragile mental state.
Hunt played 202 games in a 10-year VFL career with Richmond, St Kilda and Geelong before becoming a football broadcaster in the 1990s.
He later became an Australian fishing icon by hosting his own TV show for 14 seasons from 1991 to 2004, where he was famous for kissing his catches and then throwing them back.