Former Fox Sports presenter Tiffany Salmond has detailed her side of a late-night phone call that became a significant talking point in Australian sports media, contributing to the end of broadcaster Jake Duke’s relationship with Channel Seven reporter Grace Fitzgibbon. Salmond, speaking on ‘The Debrief with Savanna Young,’ stated that the incident, widely perceived as scandalous, was far less dramatic than reported and stemmed from a simple attempt to pass time during an Uber ride.
The Infamous Phone Call: Salmond’s Account
The controversy centers on an early-morning phone call made by Salmond to Duke in 2024. For months, the circumstances and implications of this call fueled industry gossip. Salmond, however, asserts that the narrative surrounding the event has been significantly exaggerated. She explained that Duke was not her primary choice for a call that night; he was merely a ‘backup option.’
‘The funniest thing is he wasn’t actually the first person I called,’ Salmond revealed. ‘The first person I called that I wanted to talk to just didn’t pick up. He was the backup guy. He was the backup option!’
This revelation comes after reports that Fitzgibbon ended her three-year relationship with Duke following the fallout from Salmond’s call. Sources indicated Fitzgibbon was distressed upon learning of the unexpected early-morning contact from Salmond, leading to her moving out of their shared apartment in Sydney’s Northern Beaches.
Misunderstandings and Industry Context
Salmond expressed surprise at the magnitude of the reaction to the call, emphasizing that she was unaware of Duke’s relationship with Fitzgibbon at the time. She considered Duke a ‘work friend’ and believed him to be single, a crucial detail she claims she was explicitly told.
‘I thought this person was my new friend. My new work friend,’ Salmond explained. ‘We worked together briefly, we built a good rapport and I wanted to be a part of that world. I wanted to talk to people who were in this new world of mine that I was so excited and passionate about. And I was told explicitly that he was single.’
She clarified that the call occurred approximately a year before her own departure from Fox Sports, dismissing any direct link between the controversy and her contract not being renewed for the 2025 NRL season. Salmond maintained that the incident was later used by others as a convenient explanation for professional developments but that she was blindsided by the ensuing media storm.
The Reality of the Call
Salmond, who was living in Auckland at the time, described the call as a spontaneous act during a 4 am Uber ride home after a night out. Considering the two-hour time difference, this would have been around 2 am in Sydney, where Duke was located.
She recounted her perspective: ‘I was on a night out having some fun and I was in an Uber home back to the suburbs where I live in Auckland. It was probably about 4 am.’
Rather than a deliberate, late-night intrusion, Salmond stated she was simply looking for someone to chat with, assuming Duke might also be out socializing. The conversation, she claims, never actually took place.
‘It just rang a couple of times and I went, “Oh, he’s not [answering]. He’s obviously asleep,” and then I went home,’ she said.
Discovering the Fallout
The true impact of her actions only became clear the following morning when Salmond received messages that alerted her to the situation.
‘The next morning, I got some messages and I was like, “Oh my God,”‘ she recalled. ‘That’s when I realised, “Okay… what the hell’s happened?”‘
While not identifying the source of the messages, Salmond confirmed this was when she learned Duke was not single and that his girlfriend, Fitzgibbon, existed. She reiterated her complete unawareness of the relationship.
‘I did not know that he was at home with his girlfriend. I didn’t know the girlfriend existed,’ Salmond stated. ‘I was completely oblivious. I just thought this was my friend who was single, who there was no harm in chatting to.’
Denial of Malicious Intent
Salmond was unequivocal in denying any intention to interfere in another person’s relationship.
‘This definitely wasn’t me being the other woman or anything of the kind,’ she asserted. ‘You can only deal with the facts that you have. You can’t be held responsible for something you are completely unaware of.’
Reflecting on the event, Salmond remains struck by how a call she perceived as insignificant became central to a prominent relationship breakdown in the media industry. She maintains that her actions were devoid of any hidden motive or romantic agenda, stating, ‘There was no situation or deep anything.’
The full interview with Tiffany Salmond is available on ‘The Debrief with Savanna Young’ across YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.
