ELIZABETH Hurley has paid tribute to her “Lionheart” ex-fiance Shane Warne after he died from a suspected heart attack.
The actress was in a relationship with the cricket legend, 52, for three years until they split in 2013.
Liz broke her silence to pay tribute to Warne, who was with pals at a luxury villa in Thailand when he was found unresponsive on Friday.
She said: “I feel like the sun has gone behind a cloud forever. RIP my beloved Lionheart.”
It comes as…
- Piers Morgan has led tributes to Shane Warne, describing him as “unique, ferocious, mischievous”
- Gary Lineker branded Warne as the “greatest spin bowler of all time” following the shock news
- In his haunting final tweet, Warne paid tribute to fellow cricketing legend Rod Marsh, who also died of a heart attack
- He was found unresponsive by pals who desperately battled to save him on a holiday to Thailand
- Warne shared a tragic final Instagram post from the luxury villa
Liz also shared seven touching snaps with the cricketer as she broke her silence on Instagram today.
The couple went public with their relationship in 2010 after they were pictured kissing outside a London hotel.
Warne moved into her Brighton mansion and they later announced their engagement.
But they split in 2013, with the cricket ace later revealing the spark had “fizzled out”.
On his show A Week With Warnie, he described being “quite sad it’s over” and said he cared deeply about the actress.
Warne added: “I didn’t introduce her to my children until it was real and I believed it had a future – it wasn’t just a bit of fun.”
Reflecting on their romance, he claimed to have been “more in love… than I’d realised I could be”.
Follow our Shane Warne blog for live updates on his death
“I miss the love we had. My years with Elizabeth were the happiest of my life,” he added.
Damian Hurley, Liz’ son, also wrote in tribute: “I’m still trying to wrap my head around this.
“SW was a father figure to me for most of my formative years and was truly one the best men I’ve ever known. My heart is broken.
“Thinking of and sending love to all SW’s family.”
Their relationship came after Warne’s wife Simone Callahan broke up with him in 2005 after years of cheating allegations.
The final straw came when fresh claims surfaced about Warne pursuing three other women after Simone arrived in England just as the Ashes series was about to begin.
She headed back to Australia with their three children, Brooke, 24, Jackson, 22, and Summer, 20.
FINAL MOMENTS
Thai police have now confirmed they have ruled out any suspicious circumstances following Warne’s death.
His manager James Erskine shed light on the sportsman’s final moments in Fox Sport special, Remembering Shane Warne.
He said the group were due to go for drinks at 5pm when pal Andrew Neophitou knocked on his door and realised “something was wrong”.
James added: “He went in there and said ‘come on, you’re going to be late’ and then realised something was wrong.
“And he turned him over and gave him CPR and mouth to mouth, which lasted about 20 minutes and then the ambulance came.
“They took him to the hospital, which was about a 20-minute drive and I got a phone call about 45 minutes later saying he was pronounced dead.”
Warne had spent the day watching Australia’s Test cricketers take on Pakistan from bedroom before the tragedy unfolded.
‘NO FOUL PLAY’
He had arrived in the country on Thursday with friends for a lad’s holiday.
James explained Warne, who “hadn’t been drinking”, was “having a lie down” when he was discovered with no heartbeat.
He added: “He doesn’t drink, never took drugs, ever. He hated drugs so nothing untoward.
“He was going to do the things he likes doing. He was going to play in one or two poker competitions, play a lot of golf, be with his kids, that was about it; [to] have time to himself.”
Damian Hurley has also posted a tribute to Shane Warne
Damien said ‘I’m still trying to wrap my head around this’ following Warne’s death
His comments came after Australian officials arrived in Koh Samui to begin the process of repatriating the cricketer’s body back to Melbourne.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed Warne’s family have been offered a state funeral.
Thai police said today: “No foul play was suspected at the scene based on our investigation.”
Tributes have poured in for the cricketing legend after the heartbreaking news was announced yesterday.
Piers Morgan branded his close pal “unique, ferocious, mischievous” in his column for SE.
‘GREATEST OF ALL TIME’
He added: “I’m absolutely gutted he’s gone so soon and will miss him enormously.
“But I enjoyed every second of my hundreds of hours in his exhilarating, unpredictable and always entertaining company, and of how many people in life can you say that?”
Gary Lineker tweeted: “Terribly saddened and shocked to hear the news that Shane Warne has died.
“The greatest spin bowler of all time. Can’t quite believe it. RIP Shane.”
England cricketing hero Monty Panesar told TalkRadio: “This is absolutely devastating, I’m sure the cricketing community will be completely shocked.”
He said Warne was one of the “legends of the game” – “on and off the field, what he did for cricket was unbelievable.”
Monty went on: “It’s absolutely shocking. I can’t believe I’m even sort of talking to you about this.”
The cricket legend died from a suspected heart attack in Thailand
