The second baby mama of Fremantle Dockers star Luke Ryan has broken her silence, revealing that their son together won’t see his father play in the AFL grand final.
As previously reported by the Daily Mail, and conspicuously absent from the Western Australian media, Ryan, 30, has found himself at the centre of a messy drama involving not one but two children, with DNA tests, lawyers and even AFL teammates becoming embroiled in the fallout.
For those just catching up, Ryan has fathered two children under far-from-conventional circumstances.
First, he has a five-year-old daughter. A paternity test last year confirmed Ryan was her biological father, prompting him to embrace a role in her life.
He also has a six-month-old son.
Now, for the first time, I can reveal that Perth real estate agent Kylie Mann is the mother of Ryan’s youngest child. She welcomed little Jase in March.
Perth real estate agent Kylie Mann (pictured) is the mother of Fremantle Dockers star Luke Ryan’s youngest child. She welcomed little Jase in March, months after he discovered he was also the father of a five-year-old daughter from a previous relationship
Ryan has fathered two children under far-from-conventional circumstances
It is understood that communication between the pair has since broken down and they now speak only through his lawyer.
Mann admits the two were not in a relationship when she discovered she was pregnant last year, but says they agreed to co-parent their unborn son as ‘friends’, given their long history of casually dating on and off for a decade.
However, halfway through the pregnancy, Gosnells woman Claire Willmott came forward claiming that Ryan was the father of her daughter, now five.
At the request of his management, Ryan agreed to undergo a paternity test.
After that test returned a match last year, Ryan warmly welcomed his daughter into his life while his relationship with Mann deteriorated.
Mann, a former reality TV star who appeared on Channel Seven’s Take Me Out and was a finalist in the Miss West Coast pageant before her son’s birth, now feels as though Ryan is putting more effort into his relationship with his daughter than his son.
‘It’s a shame that our son will now miss out on the grand final,’ Mann told the Daily Mail ahead of Saturday’s match at the MCG.
‘It’s especially hard seeing Luke put effort into his daughter. This time last year he hadn’t even met her, and I feel our son is deserving of the same effort and opportunities to be a part of his dad’s life.’
Mann and their son live a short distance from Ryan in a southern coastal suburb of Perth
Ryan is pictured with his daughter he shares with Gosnells woman Claire Willmott. The photo was shared on Instagram by the Dockers
Jase is eligible for the father-son rule given Ryan has played more than 100 games for Fremantle.
Ryan is listed as Jase’s father on his birth certificate. While Mann says he has yet to meet his son, I understand efforts to establish a relationship are ongoing and that Ryan wishes to be involved in his life.
In the meantime, he has publicly embraced being a ‘girl dad’, sharing photos with his daughter in the post-match locker room and appearing alongside her at football-related events.
The girl’s mother, Claire, is the sister of baby-faced bikie Samuel Willmott, who was jailed in 2023 after being sentenced over the theft of $500,000 in cash from a Perth backyard in a revenge plot against his friend’s father.
Shortly before he was jailed, the young bikie showed off a collection of new head and face tattoos while posing with a friend for a photograph.
He has ‘Rebels MC’ inked along his left arm, ‘1 per cent’ beneath his left knee and the letters ‘FTP’, commonly understood to mean ‘f*** the police’, on his leg.
He also had ‘500K’ tattooed on his face shortly before being sentenced over the theft of the $500,000 buried in the backyard in 2018.
Claire Willmott (pictured) came forward claiming that Ryan was the father of her daughter, now five. This was confirmed following a paternity test last year
Claire, is the sister of baby-faced Rebels bikie Samuel Willmott (pictured)
While his relationship with his daughter is in full swing, I am told Ryan is making moves behind the scenes to have a similarly close bond with his son, including seeking to have the boy’s surname changed to Ryan.
It is understood he proposed having Dockers teammate Brennan Cox and his partner, Keah Woods, as well as former player Brandon Matera and his wife, Samantha, be present during any meeting with his son.
Ryan’s parents, who live in Melbourne but regularly travel to Perth, have also reportedly been put forward as potential supervisors for visits on suggested dates.
However, Mann proposed that her own parents be present for the initial meeting.
I am told that an offer was put to Ryan’s lawyer in May and is awaiting a response.
Ryan’s mother, Dianne, is also believed to have been contacted during a visit to Perth and offered the opportunity to meet her grandson.
In Perth’s notoriously gossipy football circles, Ryan’s status as a father of two has been described as ‘an open secret’, with some baffled that the revelation had not previously made headlines.
Indeed, when local media reported the pregnancy last year, the comments section was peppered with questions from readers about why Ryan was being described as ‘expected to become a dad’ when he was already understood to have a daughter.
‘Become a dad? What about his daughter?’ one person wrote.
‘Become a father next year? He already has a daughter,’ another added.
The Mail has been unable to locate an active link to the original article, suggesting it has since been removed from the publication’s website. However, screenshots and traces of the story remain online.
Ryan grew up in Melbourne and played local football for Maribyrnong Park before joining Coburg Football Club in the VFL.
He was drafted by Fremantle in 2016 and went on to establish himself as one of the Dockers’ key defenders, winning the Doig Medal in 2023.
Representatives for Ryan and the Fremantle Dockers did not respond to repeated requests for comment earlier this month.
Before publishing our initial story, a lawyer acting for Ryan sent the Mail a brief letter that did not deny he was the father of two children or address the specific questions put to him.
