For more than a decade, the relationship between Match of the Day host Gary Lineker and his brother, Wayne Lineker, has been tense.

Wayne was rumored to have started years ago, but he recently took an unprecedented step towards reconciliation by posting on social media two weeks before his birthday.

In the post’s caption, Wayne expressed a wish for Gary to surprise him on his milestone 60th birthday; however, whether this loving gesture will be reciprocated remains to be seen.

While these brothers have shared moments of resolution in the past, it seems that there is still dissension between them as they look forward to this new chapter.

Wayne Lineker’s entrepreneurial spirit has taken him far over the years. Starting out as the founder of his own brand of sports bars, Lineker’s Bar, in 1988, Wayne has become a household name in the international nightlife industry.

From founding O Beach Ibiza, with its two adjacent locations, to owning several other leading entertainment venues around the world, Wayne is certainly no stranger to ambitious ventures.

Despite having the same last name and being born just two years apart with football legend Gary Lineker (Wayne on April 25, 1962 and Gary on November 30, 1960), these brothers have vastly different but equally successful paths.

There’s no denying that Wayne’s dedication and hard work has paid off – those evenings at O ​​Beach Ibiza speak for themselves!

Wayne described 2008 as the beginning of the strained relationship between him and his brother, Gary. In an interview with The Sun five years later, Wayne attributed it to the relationship that had blossomed between Gary and Danielle Bux – his now ex-wife.

Wayne took things more personally and blamed Danielle for cutting his bond with his brother. Consequently, communication between them diminished and finally ended, with no hint of a possible reconciliation on the horizon.

Even after their divorce, the two brothers remain estranged – a result of a fateful relationship all those years ago.

Wayne and Gary Rooney had an incredibly close brotherly bond prior to 2008, evidenced when Wayne served as Gary’s best man for his first wedding.

However, in a 2012 interview with the Guardian, Wayne admitted that things cooled down after Danielle joined the brothers for a holiday in Ibiza. Wayne described their relationship as “uneasy” because he and Danielle didn’t spark — a far cry from their former closeness.

As tensions rise and fall between them over the years, one thing remains clear: siblings are forever, no matter how long their bond lasts.

Their strained relationship history

After a period of estranged communication, Gary and Wayne took an important step in 2017 to rebuild their relationship.

Despite their previous split, Wayne took the initiative to honor his brother on the occasion of his 60th birthday in November 2021 with an Instagram tribute expressing hope and desire to not only speak, but spend time in a meaningful way, just as they had before.

On the same subject, he told The Sunday Mirror that phone calls are now a regular occurrence, although they may never go back to how things were all those years ago – a show of understanding even when a solution seems impossible.

Unfortunately, Gary declined Wayne’s invitation to the party, though we can only hope for further improvement in the future.

Wayne Lineker’s Instagram post suggests that he and his brother are still estranged and neither has spoken publicly about the breakup.

The accompanying distressed emoji and hashtag also suggest that not much progress has been made even after his birthday – implying it could be a long-standing issue between them.

With such a prominent platform as Instagram, it seems Wayne wanted to convey the perceived lack of mutual respect between himself and his brother to those close to them.

But at the same time, this could be seen as an attempt to get to a solution, with no public response yet from Gary Lineker.