Joanna Burgess breaks silence on Sam and Phoebe Burgess' split

Joanna Burgess has broken her silence on her brother-in-law Sam Burgess' alleged split from his wife Phoebe Burgess.

After Sam, 30, was reported by The Daily Mail to have stayed over the Christmas break with his longtime friend and co-owner of the  South Sydney Rabbitohs, Russell Crowe, the wife of his brother, George Burgess, took to Instagram to speak candidly about Sam's estranged wife in a surprising post.

In a since deleted Instagram Story, Joanna insisted that "it is not in [her] nature to take a dig at someone," before announcing that Phoebe had never once joined the Burgess side of the family for Christmas.

The outburst was no doubt an attempt to shut down fans who suggested that she had tried to take a swipe at his former partner after she posted a pic of their family having Christmas lunch that clearly did not include Phoebe. Cryptically captioning the pic, the footballer's wife wrote, "best one yet."

"Phoebe has never joined the Burgess side for previous Christmas festivities," she stated in the now obsolete Instagram Story.

Offering further explanation, Joanna went on to stay that she had used a similar caption the previous year on a near identical photo of the "Chrissy Crew" as it was her son's first Christmas, however in 2018, her daughter had decided to join them too, making it the "best one yet."

Speaking toThe Daily Telegraph, friends of Sam and Phoebe said that the two had told them that they had decided to call it quits less than a month after the birth of their second child, William 'Billy' Burgess, on December 9. The former couple also share a 23-month-old daughter named Poppy.

Sources close to both Sam and Phoebe recently told the outlet that the first signs of trouble started back in 2015. At their lavish Bowral wedding, the reception allegedly ended with "high levels of tension" after Phoebe's dad Mitch told Sam's big brother to loudly "shoosh" while giving his best man's speech.

Sam and Phoebe have been together for nearly five years and married for three.