Chumpy Pullin’s father reveals the TRUTH about ‘ridiculous’ Tea Time hearsay from Ellidy’s supporters about his youthful feminine pal – after he went public with their household feud
The father of late Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin has been forced to defend himself against baseless claims made by trolls after he spoke publicly about his rift with his son’s partner Ellidy.
Chris Pullin, 69, detailed the fallout of his once-close relationship with influencer Ellidy in an interview with the Mail earlier this month, revealing things soured after Ellidy shifted the focus of the Chumpy Pullin Foundation from sport to mental health.
As a result of this disagreement, Chris claims he is no longer in contact with his four-year-old granddaughter, Minnie, the miracle baby Ellidy conceived via IVF after harvesting sperm from Chumpy’s body in the hours following his death in July 2020.
Chris said he and his late wife Sally had only seen Minnie ‘three to four times’. Minnie now jets around the world with her mother alongside family friends DJ Fisher and his wife Chloe, and is a fixture on Ellidy’s social media accounts.
After our interview was published on January 6, Ellidy’s army of supporters gathered on the private Facebook gossip group ‘Tea Time’ to criticise Chris for speaking out.
One anonymous user submitted the offensive, typo-riddled and inaccurate claim that Chris had moved a young woman into his home in Eden, New South Wales, shortly after his wife Sally’s death from cancer last year, at the age of 68.
‘What Chris Pullin forgot to mention in his email to the Daily Mail… he is shacked up with a 22-year-old pharmacy assistant that’s now living in his poor dead wives house,’ they wrote.
‘This girl was moved in within the month after she passed.
Chris Pullin, the father of late Olympic snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin, has hit back at a false rumour he’s living with a 21-year-old woman after his wife’s death. ‘I guess if you are a small-minded gossip, you might feel empowered by making such allegations without any evidence and probably don’t even know me. All I can say is… f**k you,’ he told the Daily Mail
Sally Pullin died from central nervous system lymphoma last year. Chris says they were embroiled in a ‘hurtful’ estrangement from their late son’s partner Ellidy during the darkest days of Sally’s terminal illness. (Chumpy is pictured with his parents, Sally and Chris)
Ellidy’s army of supporters gathered on the private Facebook gossip group ‘Tea Time’ to criticise Chris for speaking to the Mail about their rift. One user posted this anonymous rumour, which Chris has gone on the record to say is categorically false
Following Chris’ interview with the Mail, Ellidy made an appearance at the launch of her ‘Ena Pelly x Ellidy Pullin’ collection in Torquay on Saturday with her new partner Brock Wadsworth
‘What do you think would “break his poor wife’s heart” more? Always two sides to every story. If he wanted so much to do with his granddaughter, do we think writing a email to the Daily Mail is the right way to go about it?
‘Speaks volumes about his actual character.’
The post was screenshotted from the private group and shared widely. The Daily Mail is not suggesting Ellidy had any knowledge of the claims or post.
It eventually ended up being sent to Chris, who slammed the accusation and insisted: ‘Nobody could reasonably believe that because of my love for Sally.’
Throughout several on-the-record interviews and separate conversations with this reporter, Chris made no secret of the fact that he mentors a 21-year-old woman named Charli from Eden and considers her a dear friend.
It is understood their friendship began through Sally before her death last April from central nervous system lymphoma.
The Pullins, who are keen boaties, have mentored many young people over the years – both men and women – by teaching them about sailing and life at sea.
While the Mail visited Chris’ home – where Sally’s belongings, artwork of her likeness, and pictures are present in almost every room – to film a YouTube documentary about his life and grief, he agreed to address the false rumour on the record.
Ellidy Pullin received permission from Chumpy’s parents to retrieve his sperm after his death in 2020. She welcomed their daughter, Minnie, in late 2021. But since then, the family has fallen out. Chris told the Daily Mail he and late wife Sally had only seen Minnie ‘three to four times’
Chris Pullin told the Mail that he mentors a young woman named Charli from Eden
‘I don’t think [the rumour] warrants a response because it was an anonymous [post], but I will so I can put it to bed,’ he said.
‘I guess if you are a small-minded gossip, you might feel empowered by making such allegations without any evidence and probably don’t even know me. All I can say is… f**k you.
‘This is hurtful. My home still feels like Sally is in the next room. I didn’t live with Sally all my life and describe us as two halves of one whole to be suddenly rushed off my feet in six months [after she died]. I mean, seriously?’
Chris revealed he became aware of the accusation when Charli’s mother showed him a screenshot of the Tea Time post. Charli also complained to the Tea Team administrator about the false gossip.
‘I was sad that Charli and her family would have to read that. To that end, I have spoken to Charli’s mum, who I’m friends with, and we’ve joked about it,’ he said.
‘I can only imagine the inference of “what do they think their daughter is doing?” But they understand their daughter is lucky to know me.
‘I’m sure that if they thought there was something untoward going on, they would have to intervene.’
He branded the post ‘ridiculous’.
‘The thought that I am doing something untoward with a person who is not even a third of my age, I mean, really? I hope it doesn’t cause her family any harm or hurt.
‘Me exposing myself like this talking to [the Daily Mail], I am putting myself in harm’s way. I just hope it doesn’t harm people around me.’
Chris said he spends a lot of time with Charli, coaching her on sailing and boating.
He said they go for walks together – and that sometimes those walks are the only thing that gets him out of the house when he is overcome by grief over his wife and son.
‘Sometimes I am lying there thinking… well, I wouldn’t want to tell you what I am thinking. But knowing Charli will be coming over at 7am to go for a walk gets me out of bed.’
Sally Pullin, pictured with son Chumpy, died in the arms of her husband Chris on the verandah of their home in Eden in April last year
Chumpy and Ellidy were together for about eight years when he died accidentally in July 2020. The couple were not married but Ellidy has adopted the Pullin surname since he passed
The Pullin family are keen boaties and have mentored many young people over the years – both men and women. (Chumpy is pictured with dad Chris out on the water)
He said mentoring young people, along with his beloved dog Stella, has given him renewed purpose in the face of tragedy.
When asked if he would ever consider entering another romantic relationship, Chris’ eyes welled with tears.
‘I love Sally, I love our life. People have said, “In time, Chris, you might meet someone.” But I really don’t imagine that’s going to happen. I don’t need it for myself.
‘I certainly would feel [finding love again] would be… a betrayal, I suppose, of the relationship between Sally and I. I wouldn’t, couldn’t do anything to hurt that magic that Sal and I had all our lives.
‘I’m here in this house that Sally and I built. I feel Sally is in the next room and is about to come out and everything will be fine.’
In a long, emotional interview with Daily Mail, Chris Pullin said: ‘I’m here in this house that Sally and I built. I feel Sally is in the next room and is about to come out and everything will be fine’
The rift between Chris and Ellidy became public earlier this month when he contacted this reporter via email following publication of a story about the now-defunct Chumpy Pullin Foundation.
The Chumpy Pullin Foundation was co-founded by Ellidy with an original mission of supporting disadvantaged young people to get into snow sports. But over time, it began to pivot into the mental health space, which Chris and Sally disapproved of.
Chumpy, who was just 32 when he suffered a shallow-water blackout and drowned while spearfishing on the Gold Coast in 2020, represented Australia at three Winter Olympics and was a two-time world-champion boardercross rider.
In her book, Heartstrong, Ellidy wrote that she and Chumpy had discussed marriage and were trying to start a family at the time of his accidental death.
Ellidy has become a prominent social media influencer, podcaster and author since the death of her partner Chumpy
In the hours after his passing – and with the permission of Chumpy’s parents, which was required by law because Chumpy and Ellidy were unmarried – his sperm was harvested and then used to conceive Minnie via posthumous IVF.
According to Chris, Sally ‘cried herself to sleep’ every night for a year after her son’s death. Some days, he and Sally were so overcome by grief, they forgot to eat.
Sally was diagnosed with lymphoma almost exactly a year after Chumpy’s death, after Chris noticed her face drooping strangely while they were gardening at their Eden home in mid-2021.
He rushed her to hospital in Bega, fearing she had suffered a stroke. There, she was instead diagnosed with cancer, and at first doctors felt the prognosis was good.
But four years of intensive treatment ravaged her body and her cognition, with Chris caring for her as she ‘slept 23 hours a day’.
She was described as incredibly fit and healthy before her diagnosis, having spent years sailing around the Pacific with her husband and family.
Chris suspects Sally’s cancer and grief over losing Chumpy may be connected.
She died in his arms on a sofa on the upstairs deck of the home they’d built together in 2011, which overlooks Aislings Beach.
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