Alex McKinnon’s romance with new girlfriend Lily Malone is going strong.
The quadriplegic former NRL player shared a photo to Instagram Stories on Monday in which the pair were cuddled up together.
The 32-year-old’s love, 22, sat on his lap for the sweet selfie, nestling in together as they posed for the camera.
Alex looked absolutely smitten, nuzzling Lily and smiling broadly for the sweet photograph.
The athlete went public with the glamorous young social worker, who is ten years his junior, in March.
The former Newcastle Knights player and fellow University of Newcastle student both shared an image with their arms around one another to their Instagram pages at the time.
McKinnon posted the picture of them both dressed in pink at Malone’s 22nd birthday party just hours before the NRL season opener kicked off in Las Vegas.
Moments later, Malone debuted McKinnon on her own Instagram page, sharing the same photo with a love heart emoji.
Alex McKinnon’s romance with new girlfriend Lily Malone is going strong. The quadriplegic former NRL player shared a photo to Instagram Stories on Monday in which the pair were cuddled up together. Both pictured
Malone’s mum Monique did not deny the pair were an item when contacted by Daily Mail Australia on Monday.
‘I wont comment on their relationship, that’s up to them to comment,’ Mrs Malone said.
Lily Malone is studying a bachelor’s degree in social work at University of Newcastle. McKinnon is studying psychology there, as well as working for Fox Sports as an analyst.
Malone – who works as a family contact worker at Life Without Barriers – recently shared that she is soon to be a qualified social worker.
‘In collaboration with a small, dedicated team, I’ve developed an eight-session program tailored to the unique needs of ‘Parents of First Time Youth Offenders Within a Domestic Violence Context,’ she recently posted to her LinkedIn page.
The athlete went public with the glamorous young social worker, who is ten years his junior, in March. The former Newcastle Knights player and fellow University of Newcastle student both shared an image with their arms around one another to their Instagram pages
McKinnon’s romance comes after he split from his ex-wife Teigan Power in January 2022 after five years of marriage, three children and his own horrific on-field footy accident that left him a quadriplegic.
As they parted ways, both parties confirmed the split was amicable and that they remained committed to co-parenting their children, twins Audrey and Violet, and eldest daughter Harriet.
Power went public with her new love Jake Nelson late last year.
Last year, McKinnon said he and Power were still bonded by a strong close friendship.
‘We are still really close,’ he told News Corp.
‘Being a parent is such an important job and having a strong relationship with their mum is just as important.
‘We are still good friends, we both realise we are role models for the kids and we need to show them that being supportive of each other is the only way to be.’
McKinnon split from his ex-wife Teigan Power in January 2022. The former couple had three children – Harriet, aged four, and twins Audrey and Violet, two. All pictured
McKinnon proposed to his high school sweetheart from his hospital bed just days after his promising NRL career was cut short in March 2014, when he suffered a devastating spinal cord injury in a horrifying on-field accident. He was just 22.
He suffered fractures to his C4 and C5 vertebrae in a dangerous tackle close to half-time of Newcastle’s Round 3 clash against the Melbourne Storm. McKinnon proposed to Power just 14 days after breaking his spine.
McKinnon and Power tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in the NSW Hunter Valley in October 2017.
The former Knights star promised his bride that he would rise from his wheelchair when he popped the question, and he did just that at their wedding.
The couple were together for 12 years and married for five before their relationship quietly came to an end.
McKinnon’s father Scott told Daily Mail Australia at the time that McKinnon was ‘doing good, but it’s really sad – what can you do?’
‘I know he’s a good boy, but Alex is a private bloke. It’s just very, very sad.’
