Piers Morgan secretly bids on two major items from Russell Crowe's 'Art of Divorce' auction -spending $14,500 on a signed Shane Warne cricket vest and an All Blacks jersey

By April Glover For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 12:11 EDT, 7 April 2018 | Updated: 18:04 EDT, 7 April 2018

Good Morning Britain host and MailOnline columnist Piers Morgan secretly bid on two big-ticket items at Russell Crowe's multimillion-dollar 'The Art Of Divorce' auction.

The media personality made successful bids on sporting memorabilia from Russell's private collection, put on sale following the finalisation of the actor's divorce from Australian actress Danielle Spencer.

Piers was thrilled to pocket Russell's treasured Shane Warne Australia Test jersey for $7,500 (£4,087) and a signed All Black's jersey from the late Jonah Lomu for $7,000 (£3,815).

Big win: Piers (pictured) was thrilled to pocket Russell's treasured Shane Warne Australia Test jersey for $7,500 (£4,087) and a signed All Black's jersey from the late Jonah Lomu for $7,000 (£3,815)

Big win: Piers (pictured) was thrilled to pocket Russell's treasured Shane Warne Australia Test jersey for $7,500 (£4,087) and a signed All Black's jersey from the late Jonah Lomu for $7,000 (£3,815)

Auction: The media personality made successful bids on sporting memorabilia from Russell's (pictured) private collection, which he put on sale following the finalisation of his divorce from Australian actress Danielle Spencer 

Auction: The media personality made successful bids on sporting memorabilia from Russell's (pictured) private collection, which he put on sale following the finalisation of his divorce from Australian actress Danielle Spencer 

Speaking with Daily Mail Australia, the 53-year-old presenter said he was determined to acquire the famous auction pieces after scouring the Hollywood star's list.

'When I went through the list of auctions items, I realised there were two I just had to have. Shane is the greatest bowler of all time, and Jonah was the greatest rugby player of all time,' Piers said. 

'Now to be the owner of their personal international jerseys makes me incredibly proud and happy. It's even more special that they came from Russell's private collection as I'm a massive fan of his work as an actor.'

Auction house Sotheby's, who hosted Russell's 'The Art of Divorce' auction, estimated the Shane Warne jersey sale price between $1,000 to $2,000 (£545 to £1,090).

Sporting legend: Auction house Sotheby's, who hosted Russell's 'The Art of Divorce' auction, estimated the Shane Warne jersey (pictured) sale price between $1,000 to $2,000 (£545 to £1,090)

Sporting legend: Auction house Sotheby's, who hosted Russell's 'The Art of Divorce' auction, estimated the Shane Warne jersey (pictured) sale price between $1,000 to $2,000 (£545 to £1,090)

Heroes: 'When I went through the list of auctions items, I realised there were two I just had to have. Shane is the greatest bowler of all time, and Jonah was the greatest rugby player of all time,' Piers said (Pictured is the Jonah Lomu jersey)

Heroes: 'When I went through the list of auctions items, I realised there were two I just had to have. Shane is the greatest bowler of all time, and Jonah was the greatest rugby player of all time,' Piers said (Pictured is the Jonah Lomu jersey)

Making money: Speaking with Daily Mail Australia, the 53-year-old presenter said he was determined to acquire the famous auction pieces after scouring the Hollywood star's list (Auction pictured) 

Making money: Speaking with Daily Mail Australia, the 53-year-old presenter said he was determined to acquire the famous auction pieces after scouring the Hollywood star's list (Auction pictured) 

The Jonah Lomu signed jersey was given a pre-sale estimation price of between $3,000 and $4,000 (£1,635 - £2,180).

Piers also took to Twitter to thank Russell for allowing him to purchase the sporting souvenirs.

'Thanks for making them available - I’ll treasure them,' he said. 

Russell's highly anticipated, multimillion-dollar 'The Art Of Divorce' auction took place in Sydney on Saturday.

The auction, which featured the sale of movie memorabilia, Australian art, musical instruments, his ex wife's jewellery and cars, saw Crowe net a staggering $3.7million.

The 54-year-old devised the auction as a way to deal with the end of his nine-year marriage to Danielle - following their separation in 2012 - and to clear out 'stuff'. 

'In case anyone is interested ... $3.7m at the coal face and around $350k of conversations ongoing ... and a bunch of stuff I didn’t really want to sell coming home ... not a bad hourly rate for a five hour shift . Hope you are happy and busy,' Crowe wrote on Twitter after the event.

Big money: Russell's highly anticipated, multimillion-dollar 'The Art Of Divorce' auction took place in Sydney on Saturday

Big money: Russell's highly anticipated, multimillion-dollar 'The Art Of Divorce' auction took place in Sydney on Saturday

Auction success: The auction, which featured the sale of movie memorabilia, Australian art, musical instruments, his ex wife's jewellery and cars, saw Russell net a staggering $3.7million

Auction success: The auction, which featured the sale of movie memorabilia, Australian art, musical instruments, his ex wife's jewellery and cars, saw Russell net a staggering $3.7million

The Hollywood star held the highly-publicised exhibition and auction at Carriageworks in Sydney, calling it a 'watershed moment' in his life.

The auction opened on Saturday, which is his wedding anniversary and is also his 54th birthday, months after he finalised his divorce that leaves Danielle with their $11 million house and a rumoured $20 million payout.

The most expensive item sold in the auction was 1960 painting The Suitor, by Charles Blackman, which was bought for $360,000.

Some of the other most hotly-contested film items were Gladiator costumes, including a stunt cuirass worn by Russell when his character Maximus died.

An online bidder bought the armour - which was valued at only $20,000 to $30,000 - for $125,000.

A pair of black leather wrist cuffs from the same film were also snatched for $32,000, while two life-sized prop horses were also up for grabs. 

Divorce woes: The 54-year-old (pictured) devised the auction as a way to deal with the end of his nine-year marriage to Danielle - following their separation in 2012 - and to clear out 'stuff'

Divorce woes: The 54-year-old (pictured) devised the auction as a way to deal with the end of his nine-year marriage to Danielle - following their separation in 2012 - and to clear out 'stuff'

Advertisement

Most watched News videos

Comments 9

Share what you think

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

What's This?

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.