'Never acceptable': Tess Crosley releases statement slamming strangers' behaviour amid Lachie Neale controversy

Tess Crosley has released a statement condemning strangers for saying "derogatory comments" about her in the street in the presence of her young child.

Tess, 30, has been at the centre of headlines amid an alleged scandal involving AFL star Lachie Neale, 32, whose wife Jules ended their marriage over a "betrayal" and seemingly pointed the blame at a close friend.

On Wednesday, Tess released a statement on Instagram to her 39k followers detailing how she'd been approached in the street while caring for her son.

"I want to make this very clear," she began the statement, posted to her Instagram story.

"It is never acceptable for anyone to approach a stranger in public and make derogatory comments or abuse at them, especially when they are simply trying to care for their child's needs."

Tess went on to say that her child "did not deserve" to be exposed to the abuse that strangers had levelled at her since rumours of her involvement in Lachie and Jules' split first circulated.

"While I navigate my own personal challenges, my priority remains protecting and shielding my child from unnecessary hostility and cruelty in everyday situations," she concluded the statement.

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Tess is married to one of Lachie's friends, Ben Crosley. Their relationship status remains unclear at this stage, but they share one child together.

Tess' statement comes one day after she hit back at a critic on Ben's Instagram page, marking one of her first public interactions since the rumours began circulating.

Underneath pictures Ben posted with his mates on a golf course, Tess commented an emoji of an Italian hand gesture, also known as a 'chef's kiss' emoji.

A fan took it upon themselves to reply to her comment, asking: "Did he forgive you? I'm confused, no offence," to which Tess offered a blunt reply.

"Don't think that's any of your business," she quipped back.

Jules and Lachie's split first hit headlines in December, after she publicly claimed that she had been "betrayed" after rumours circulated that she and Lachie were working through relationship issues.

"I want to make it very clear that I am not 'working through' anything," Jules said.

"I have been betrayed in the most unimaginable way. All I can do now is to to heal and do what's best for my children."

Within days of the statement, Jules added fuel to speculation about what caused the split when she commented on a now-deleted post on former friend Tess' Instagram page.

"Take these down, you idiot, you're embarrassing yourself," Neale wrote under photos that showed her former best friend celebrating Lachie Neale's Brisbane Lions AFL Grand Final last September.

The images showed Tess, her husband Ben and the Neales on the field.

Tess' knee seemed to be touching Lachie's, while their respective spouses stood to the other side.

The two couples were reportedly firm friends and often appeared on each other's social media accounts.

The ladies have since unfollowed each other and removed all traces of each other from their social media pages.

There has been no confirmation anything untoward happened between Tess and Lachie.

Jules has since moved back to Perth with their children, Piper, four, and Freddie, one.

The post led to Lachie stepping down from his position as co-captain of the Lions in January.

Lachie confirmed the separation while addressing the media that same month.

During the press conference, Lachie apologised publicly without any explicit confirmation of anything untoward.

"While I won't go into specifics I can say that I have let my family down, and I apologise for my actions which have hurt those closest to me," he said.

"For that, I am deeply sorry."

Lachie added that he had to "accept" the consequences of his actions, but was focused on rebuilding trust with Neale because the well-being of their children remained their biggest priority.

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