He told America’s CBS show Sunday Morning: ”It ended up not being a bad business. No, it’s not a bad business decision at all. But it’s taken a lot of work and probably cost me my marriage. It took a lot of work, man, you know? It took a lot of work and I already had an extremely busy schedule.”
The 51-year-old actor admits 45-year-old Danielle – with who he has sons Charles, 11, and Tennyson, eight – struggled to accept his decision because, while she understood his work in the movie industry would lead to spending long periods away from home, she couldn’t figure out why he would then take on something else that would take him away from family life.
He added ”My job was making films and my wife clearly understands what my job is. But, to her I suppose the football situation was needlessly taking me away.” But he doesn’t regret the work he has put in for the reigning NRL premiers because it has boosted the local community.
He said: ”For me, taking over South Sydney and inspiring a new generation of South Sydney kids is about community independence. It’s also come with a massive increase in the value of what the club is, so that’s all good too.”
Russell recently admitted he and Danielle have been ”discussing” the nature of their relationship. He said: ”Technically we’re married. We are separated and discussing what that means.”