<head>Amanda Flynn News</head>
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Glamour role
Not everyone is impressed by the rise of the glamourpuss over at Fox Sports. First it was Sami Lukis, now it's Thorpie's "girlfriend" Lee Furlong. Even the former Penrith Panthers cheerleader and spray tan business owner Amanda Gower is being considered for a role, reports Herald sports writer Jessica Halloran, who says the model and SBS sports star Stephanie Brantz was also approached to host. As the Fox Sports News channel readies itself to go to a 24-hour broadcast on October 1, there has been criticism that some do not have the sports journalism cred to read the bulletin. Right? Wrong, said the marketing director of Fox Sports, Adam Oakes. "Someone that's a good presenter on the news doesn't have to specifically have a good sports journalism background," he said. "As a sports fan watching it you just want to know what's going on in the sports you are interested in. If they can do it in a good way and deliver it clearly and succinctly and have a positive vibe that's the thing we are looking for." Not everyone is convinced. One staff member at Fox Sports News said this week: "Do you have to be an FHM or Ralph model to work here?"
Grope row ruined big day: Flynn
THE wife of embattled Penrith star Craig Gower has spoken for the first time about the scandal that threw her wedding plans into disarray and stripped her long-term partner of his captaincy.
While Amanda Flynn is set to re-commence her role as The Footy Show's Lady Luck tomorrow night, the past few months have been anything but lucky for the 24-year-old.
Flynn's pre-marital bliss turned into a nightmare when three weeks before the big day, Gower was accused of groping the daughter of league legend Wayne Pearce at a celebrity golf tournament on the Sunshine Coast.
Despite not being witness to the events that took place over the wild weekend, Flynn, a former cheerleader of the year, has continued to stand by her man.
"It didn't effect things personally between Craig and I because I knew the truth – the media didn't even get the story right," Flynn told Confidential this week.
"But it was supposed to be the happiest time of my life, and it just became incredibly stressful.
"I couldn't even go up to the shops without it becoming a big ordeal – Penrith is a small place and everyone wanted to know about it."
Unwanted media attention followed the long-time lovebirds up the aisle at their exclusive Whale Beach wedding in January, which Flynn said ruined their nuptials.
"Our guests couldn't even hear our vows because of the choppers flying overhead – it was such a shame."
Flynn, whose role as Lady Luck on the Channel 9 show will this year include celebrity interviews, said she and Gower had since "moved on" from the incident
BRIDE FORGIVE'S GOWERS BAD BEHAVIOUR
DISGRACED rugby league star Craig Gower married his sweetheart, former cheerleader Amanda Flynn, yesterday in a garden ceremony on Sydney's northern beaches.
The intimate ceremony, attended by 90 relatives and close friends, began about 5.30pm in the gardens of Jonah's, an exclusive Whale Beach retreat.
The bride, dressed in a fitted white gown with thin straps and detailed beading, looked stunning.
She wore no veil and had her hair swept up in a bun with roses to match the one worn by the groom.
Gower was attended by three groomsmen, all wearing matching black pinstriped suits and no ties. Ms Flynn had three bridesmaids who wore colourful printed dresses.
She walked down the aisle to the song Arithmetic, performed by New Zealand singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser, then kissed Gower before the ceremony began.
Guests at the wedding included Gower's former Panthers team-mates Ryan Girdler and Greg Alexander. Noticeably absent were any Panthers first-grade players.
Buses ferried guests to the venue to avoidthe media camped outside.
Ms Flynn and five of her close friends shared a clifftop suite at Jonah's on Friday night to prepare for the big day.
Looking relaxed and radiant, the "Lady Luck" presenter on Channel 9's The Footy Show ate a light breakfast with her bridal party before disappearing to prepare for the late-afternoon ceremony.
Gower and Ms Flynn are believed to have signed a lucrative deal with a women's magazine, and their wedding arrangements were veiled in secrecy.
Florists, bakers and butchers sped in and out of the venue during the morning, unloading supplies.
Celebrity wedding stylists Angels Dreaming, who have worked on weddings for Hi-5 and Savage Garden, created a bohemian theme for the occasion, complete with Moroccan lanterns, serving ware and vivid splashes of colour.
"Amanda's style is very bohemian in itself, so there's a lot of her in the wedding's design," director Rouba Alamein said. Lush bouquets of peach, yellow and cream flowers were brought into the restaurant in the early afternoon. The wedding puts a much brighter look on what has been an embarrassing month for Gower, an Australian halfback, who was stripped of the Penrith club captaincy and fined $30,000 after a drunken rampage on the Sunshine Coast before Christmas.
The fine represented about six per cent of his Panthers contract.
The Sunday Telegraph.
Home to many high society weddings each year, Jonah's has also played host to David Bowie, John Cleese and Mick Jagger in recent years.
GOWER GETS ROMANTIC
THIS is the lavish setting where embattled rugby league star Craig Gower will marry his former cheergirl partner Amanda Flynn today.
Confidential can reveal the couple is to wed at the exclusive Whale Beach retreat Jonah's, with the top-secret guest list including his Panthers teammates Ryan Girdler, Brad Fittler, Greg Alexander and Chris Hicks.
It is understood Gower and Flynn - who appears as Lady Luck on Channel 9's The Footy Show - have stitched up a lucrative deal with New Idea for exclusive coverage of the wedding.
Just weeks ago, the big day must have seemed a world away for Gower as he faced the backlash of an alcohol-fuelled buck's weekend on the Sunshine Coast that got way out of hand.
At a function for the charity golf event he was playing at just before Christmas, the Australian No.7 was accused of groping the teenage daughter of Balmain legend Wayne Pearce, waving a beer bottle at her brother and running naked on the course.
He was later fined $30,000 and stripped of the Penrith captaincy as a result of the night of shame.
Details of the glamour wedding have been kept so secret in recent weeks that even guests have been kept in the dark about when and where it would take place. But it's understood the ceremony will take place in the gardens outside the restaurant.
Home to many high society weddings each year, Jonah's has also played host to David Bowie, John Cleese and Mick Jagger in recent years.
News On Amanda's Wedding
Contrary to speculation, Gower will still marry Footy Show regular Amanda Flynn on Saturday. There had been rumours that the wedding had been postponed but Willett was adamant this was not correct.
"That is not right," he said. "She's 200 per cent behind him. There's nothing wrong at all. They are getting married next weekend as planned. "I'm sure the media will be checking out every church in Penrith. There was never a chance it would not go ahead."
It is believed the marriage will take place on a secluded beach with a small gathering of the couple's family and friends. But while the Gower groping issue is considered over, Willett said he was far from happy about how the Panthers had dealt with the matter.