Lachie Neale and Abbey Holmes have broken their silence after the pair found themselves at the centre of controversy for what they considered an innocent post-interview kiss.
The Brisbane Lions star was captured kissing Channel 7 presenter and former AFLW star Holmes on the cheek after the Lions' win over the Western Bulldogs in round 13.
The incident went unnoticed at the time, however, has since been labelled as "inappropriate" with many suggesting Neale crossed a line.
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Speaking on Nine's Today, Neale said he was "surprised" to learn the incident had become a hot topic one week after the game.
"The fact that it's been brought up a week later is a little bit strange," Neale said.
"I didn't really know about it until the other day. It's sort of come as a bit of a surprise."
Holmes questioned journalist Kate Halfpenny's knowledge of her relationship with Neale, revealing the backlash has been "really upsetting"
"The fact that this article came out a week after the fact, after that interview happened, shows how much of a non-news story this is," Holmes said on LiSTNR's Footy Talk.
"It's really frustrating for me. Lachie is a good friend of mine, so that's just something that you do – you greet your friends. Whether that's a hug or a kiss on the cheek.
"The fact that this has been blown up out of proportion to the actual incident itself. It's really upsetting for me.
"Kate Halfpenny wrote the article. But does she know my relationship with Lachie? Does she know that he's a good friend of mine? If she had have done her due diligence ahead of writing that article, I think she might feel a little bit differently and might not have actually written it in the first place," she continued.
"I don't want to spend too much time on it because to me it is not a story. This isn't the first time that a player who I've got a great relationship has given me a hug or given me a kiss and the one thing that did upset me was the professionalism aspect of that article.
"I've worked so hard over such a long period of time now to build relationships, to build trust, to build rapport with these players and coaches and make them feel like they are in a really safe space when they're with me. And that that's what probably upset me the most.
"I don't want my friends to feel uncomfortable in how they going to greet me or say goodbye to me. That's not fair. I just feel as though that article was taken out of proportion massively.
"Jules Neale (Lachie's wife) even sent me a message this morning saying, I hope you're okay – this is ridiculous. I'm like, mate, I know Lachie's a friend of mine."
Halfpenny's article criticised the pair's interaction, stating: "The interaction was fast, but it was weird enough for my husband and I to say, 'Wait, what?'"
AFL great Leigh Matthews was one of the many commentators rattled by the incident.
"You must assume they must know each other very well because normally you only give a kiss on the cheek to someone you know quite well," he said on 3AW.
"Otherwise, you shake their hand. I would shake the hands of a woman I don't 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.
"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."
Nine's sports reporter Roz Kelly slammed the reactions to the innocent interaction as "unwanted attention" for the pair.
"This actually makes me really angry," she said.
"It was an innocent interaction between two professionals who were doing their job and it's hard enough being a woman in sport as it is, let alone attracting this sort of unwanted attention."
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