AFL kiss between TV host and footy legend sparks furore: ‘It is a first’

Brisbane Lions superstar Lachie Neale and Channel 7 presenter Abbey Holmes shared a quick post-match kiss that has sparked a furore, with some saying it crossed a boundary.

The kiss took place earlier this month when the Lions played the Bulldogs in Round 13, with the act not attracting too much attention at the time.

Holmes interviewed an exhausted Neale, with them both leaning in for a quick kiss on the cheek after their chat was over.

The pair, who are friends off the pitch, have sparked much conversation about if the kiss was inappropriate or not.

‘You assume they must know each other very well,’ said AFL legend Leigh Matthews on 3AW.

‘Because normally you only give a kiss on the cheek to someone you know quite well, otherwise you shake their hands.

‘I would shake the hands of a woman I don’t know very well. The kiss on the cheek is normally for someone you know very well. I don’t know how well they know each other. 

‘I assume they know each other very well, otherwise it’s a highly unusual thing which is why we’re talking about it.’

Matthews went on to say he’d never seen the move after a match before.

‘It is a first. I’ve never seen it before. Have you ever seen it? That’s why we’re talking about it. It’s quite an unusual one.’

Journalist Kate Halfpenny commented on the kiss in a recent column in The Age.

‘The interaction was fast and not ick, but it was weird enough for my husband and I to say, “wait, what?”,’ she wrote.

Lions star Lachie Neale (pictured) is friends with Holmes off the field

 ‘This was rare, TV talent kissing or being kissed as a sign-off. You have to go back to Bec Judd swerving from Tony Jones’ attempted smooch in 2016 after her last news bulletin.’

Halfpenny questioned if it was a good look to kiss friends at work. 

‘Still, even if they’re besties 4 eva, when they’re both at work is it a good look to be saying hasta manana with a kiss? For mine, it was too familiar,’ she wrote.

‘Place and time, people. You’re drawing a wage from this chat so keep it classy, San Diego.

‘Intrigued, I watched the kiss again a couple of times. Neither party seemed uncomfortable. 

‘The incident hasn’t made waves in the media or on socials. But at a time when former Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales is facing a sexual assault trial for his creepy unsolicited kiss on World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, I think it’s worth asking the kiss question.’

Footy fans online have made their thoughts known on the matter too, with split opinions on the topic. 

‘Highly inappropriate for the female interviewer to give Lachie Neale a kiss. What would happen if a male interviewer did it to a female. Appallingly unprofessional behaviour by the female interviewer,’ posted one fan on X.

‘Has Abbey Holmes stated that Lachie Neal’s kiss on the cheek was inappropriate or offensive? No? Stfu and myob,’ posted another.