Inside Gary Lineker’s ‘uncommon’ friendship together with his married ex-wife Danielle Bux: Exes converse ‘thrice a day’ and go on vacation collectively eight years after her need to have one other little one prompted cut up

Gary Lineker proved he is the friendliest of exes with his ex-wife Danielle Bux this week as the Match Of The Day host snubbed BBC Sports Personality Of The Year for a dinner together. 

The former couple split in 2016 and Danielle, 45, went on to marry Nate Greenwald, an American entertainment lawyer in 2019.

They have remained close ever since their break-up, with the presenter, 64, admitting some might find their friendship ‘unusual’. 

Gary previously revealed the cause of their marital breakdown was sparked by Danielle’s desire to have another child – and she welcomed a daughter, Romy, seven, in 2017. 

Since they amicably parted, Gary has been open about the fact they have stayed in close contact, texting each other ‘three times a day’ and going on holiday together. 

‘Danielle and I are best mates, we still speak three times a day, we text all the time,’ he told The Mirror previously. ‘When she comes to London she stays with me, and when I go to Los Angeles I see her.’

And Gary snapped up the opportunity to see Danielle as she paid a visit to London earlier this week. 

They enjoyed an evening out at Dorian Restaurant in Notting Hill with Danielle, while his colleagues gathered in MediaCityUK, Salford, for the awards show. 

Gary, the BBC’s highest paid star, stepped down as co-presenter of SPOTY following the news he will also leave Match of the Day after 25 years. 

Showing off their table set with salad and wine, the Welsh actress tagged Gary and wrote ‘Christmas tipple’ before sharing a cosy selfie of the two waiting for their night tube home.

The next day Gary wore the same plaid shirt to film The Rest Is Football live that he wore while out with Danielle. 

The football pundit joined his co-hosts Alan Shearer and David Moyes to film an episode of their popular podcast in Mayfair, London. 

Gary and Danielle married on 2 September 2009, in Ravello, Italy, but they split seven years later. 

The former footballer revealed they broke up over her desire to have children, while he was comfortable with his four sons, George, 32, Harry, 30, Tobias, 28 and Angus, 26, from his previous marriage with Michelle Cockayne.

Danielle had daughter Ella, 22, from a previous relationship and they have reunited as a family in the years since their split for their ‘annual Christmas dinner’. 

Gary previously told the Times: ‘Obviously I would have done, but she said, “It’s not fair on you”. Then I said, “Well, I’d feel terrible if I stop you doing it”.

Speaking on his friend Gaby Logan’s podcast The Mid-Point last year, Gary explained further: ‘It was purely down to children.

‘She already had a daughter, I had four boys, [but] then her body clock started ticking and she had the urge’.

‘In the end, we decided ‘Well, why don’t we just stay mates?’,’ he continued, adding he wanted to leave her free to find someone who was also interested in having a baby.

‘She didn’t want me to do something that I didn’t really want, deep down – and I didn’t want to stop her from doing something that she really wanted, deep down, so we just came to a logical and sensible [split]’.

In an interview in 2010 – the year after they were married – Gary admitted he was uncertain as to whether or not they should have more children.

‘She has a child from a previous relationship and I have four of my own, so we are not sure if we want any more,’ he told The Times newspaper.

‘Some weeks it seems like a good idea, other weeks it doesn’t. When we are on a plane and we hear screaming babies, it definitely doesn’t.’

Danielle went on to find love with American lawyer Nate and based her life in Los Angeles as she was keen on pursuing an acting career. 

The couple were said to have met after the model moved in next door and Nate got on well with Gary from the offset. 

‘He’s not got a jealous bone in his body,’ Gary previously told Radio Times. ‘We get on really well. We go out for dinner when I’m in LA. It might be unusual and people might go, ‘That’s weird’ but, frankly, I don’t care. What is normal? 

‘Is it better to get divorced and end up fighting, screaming and shouting? Or is it better to get on if you can?’

Gary and Danielle enjoyed a holiday together in Ibiza last year. 

A witness told The Sun: ‘It was hard to think Gary and Danielle are not blissfully married. They looked so relaxed and intimate in each other’s company. 

‘They have re-written the rulebook on how a divorced couple can get on. They clearly still adore each other.’

Despite Danielle remarrying, Gary has remained single since their divorce.

Back in 2021, he claimed to be ‘unbothered’ about intimacy – admitting he was at an age where his testosterone levels had dropped.

In an interview with The Times, Gary said: ‘I like being on my own… I don’t feel lonely. I have the odd date here and there, but nothing… 

‘Not in terms of a long relationship. I’ve been married most of my adult life. Two really good marriages, I’m friends with both.’  

‘I am still single. I am not going down that route! I have been there before and tried to explain myself and I got slaughtered by my friends.’

Despite previously insisting he was remaining single, last month Gary was seen enjoying a night out at the popular Dorian restaurant with Leila Bartell, a friend of Johnny Depp’s former wife, Amber Heard.

The former England striker is rarely seen out with women but spent an evening with Leila, thought to be in her mid-40s, and mutual friend Jemima Khan in May.

Rumours were swirling then that Jemima and Gary may have become an item. A year earlier, he attended her 50th birthday at her country estate, Kiddington Hall in Oxfordshire.

But a friend of Jemima said of the pairing: ‘Jemima has known him for years and never known him to date anyone.

‘They aren’t a couple but they’ve been good friends for a long time now. He’s not interested in dating and hasn’t been for years.’