Fevola walks out on sports star husband

Alex Fevola has left her husband of almost five years.

The Australian Dancing With The Stars contestant, who married AFL player Brendan Fevola in 2005, said that she walked out on him when she realised that she could not cope with his gambling addiction.

Alex told New Idea magazine: "Brendan had struggled with gambling issues since he was young.

"But while Brendan liked a game of poker, the killer for him was the horses and dogs - and with some bookies offering big lines of credit, he was blowing money he hadn't earned, and it was escalating.

"Not knowing what debts he'd incurred from one month to the next was hard with three kids. I knew if I didn't do something to open Brendan's eyes, he'd reach the end of his career and find himself in serious trouble."

Alex moved to Melbourne with daughters Mia, Leni and Lulu after the purchase of their million dollar home in Brisbane fell through because of Brendan's problems.

She added: "I'm back in Melbourne on principle. I'd told myself if anything else happened I'd leave. It was a case of enough being enough and knowing I had to do something to make Brendan wake up before it was too late."

In 2006, Alex split from Brendan after discovering that he was having an affair with Lara Bingle. Brendan was recently caught up in a scandal after Bingle accused him of publishing a nude photograph of her that he took during their relationship.