The father of late snowboard champion Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin has broken his silence on Ellidy Pullin’s engagement to new partner Brock Wadsworth, revealing his fears for the couple’s future and why he believes she’ll never stop using his son’s last name.
Chris Pullin indicated he would prefer Ellidy to change her surname to her soon-to-be husband Brock Wadsworth’s, but he doubted she would because it is her ‘cash cow’.
Ellidy was in a long-term relationship with Chumpy until his accidental death aged 32 in a spearfishing accident at Palm Beach on the Gold Coast in July 2020.
Chumpy suffered a shallow-water blackout and was found unresponsive on the ocean floor by a fellow diver.
His devastated girlfriend harvested his sperm posthumously, then changed her surname from Vlug to Pullin via deed poll, despite never marrying him.
Ellidy announced her engagement to Brock Wadsworth on Wednesday morning
The Gold Coast influencer was left devastated by Chumpy’s sudden death in 2020
Earlier this year, Chris Pullin revealed the shocking falling-out between himself and Ellidy
Chris previously claimed to the Daily Mail that Ellidy, 34, had ‘blocked’ the family on social media and did not contact him either after the death of his wife Sally from central nervous system lymphoma in April 2025.
She did, however, post a gushing tribute to Sally weeks after her death, a gesture that remains a sore point with Chris, who says he never received any private condolences.
On Wednesday, Ellidy announced her engagement to Gold Coast builder Brock, less than a year after going public with the relationship and six years after Chumpy’s death.
‘He wants to be stuck with me forever!’ she declared.
The engagement news immediately reignited questions about whether Ellidy will retain the Pullin name, despite her fractured relationship with Chumpy’s father, or take Brock’s surname once they marry.
Speaking to the Daily Mail just hours after Ellidy shared her news, Chris, 69, said that he believes she will never let go of the Pullin name.
‘I don’t think she’ll change her name, because it’s her whole persona; it’s been her cash cow,’ he said, in reference to her becoming a high-profile influencer and author since Chumpy died.
There was a time when Chris and Ellidy shared an unbreakable bond forged by loss. Pictures of the young woman leaning on him during a memorial paddle-out for Chumpy at Palm Beach resonated across Australia.
Ellidy leaned on Chris during the heartbreaking 2020 paddle-out in memory of Chumpy
Ellidy famously changed her surname from Vlug to Pullin after Chumpy’s death
Chris has not only tragically lost his son, but also his wife Sally in recent years
In the days after Chumpy’s death, Ellidy required Chris and Sally’s permission to posthumously harvest their son’s sperm, which the devastated parents immediately agreed to and signed an affidavit allowing the procedure to go ahead.
Ellidy became pregnant via IVF and gave birth to a baby girl in October 2021 – Chumpy’s only biological child.
Chris revealed earlier this year that he has seen his granddaughter, four-year-old Minnie, just ‘three or four times’.
Back in 2022, before their rift, Ellidy released her memoir Heartstrong: Chumpy, Minnie and Me, with Chris contributing several chapters.
Chris believes their feud ignited in May 2024, when he emailed the board of the since-shuttered Chumpy Pullin Foundation, of which Ellidy was co-founder, to express concerns that it was straying from its original purpose of supporting youth sport.
Instead, the foundation shifted its focus towards mental health initiatives, a move Chris claims fuelled misconceptions that his son had died by suicide rather than in a spearfishing accident, distorting public perceptions of both his death and his legacy.
Soon after the email was sent, Chris alleges Ellidy blocked the joint phone number he shared with Sally, who was by that stage in her third year of fighting her lymphoma diagnosis and suffering tremendously.
‘After that [email], we came to understand we could no longer contact Ellidy. Our calls were not going through,’ he said during a filmed interview with the Mail at his home in Eden, on the NSW Sapphire Coast, on January 12.
‘It hurt Sally a lot. She was devastated. Her cognitive ability was impaired by the lymphoma. But she knew we weren’t talking – or rather Ellidy wasn’t talking to us,’ he added.
‘She was also aware we weren’t in touch with Minnie. I was Sally’s protector… but to see her so hurt by this, and there was nothing I could do to protect her… It caused a lot of pain.’
Ellidy’s fiancé Brock has become a father figure to four-year-old Minnie
Ellidy once felt it would be ‘Chump and I forever’, but admits she is happy with her new love
Speaking to the Daily Mail following Ellidy’s engagement this week, Chris said of Ellidy’s continued use of the Pullin name: ‘She is a Pullin, but she’s not.
‘They weren’t married. I hate it, but what do I do. All I can say is, “What would Chumpy think about that?” It annoys me because it’s out of our control.’
‘The Pullin family is very much still in existence. There are about 30 of us. She has no relationship with any of us other than my daughter [Chumpy’s sister].’
While there is no denying Ellidy has achieved fame through the Pullin name, Chris acknowledged there is another reason she is unlikely to change it.
He expects she’ll want to keep the same name as her daughter, Minnie, who Chris understands bears a striking resemblance to her father.
‘I don’t have any relationship with either of them [Ellidy and Minnie],’ said Chris, speaking from his coastal home, where he is surrounded by pictures and artwork featuring Sally and Chumpy.
‘I don’t see anything because it’s all blocked. I don’t even know where they live.
‘As far as I’m concerned, there are millions of people in Australia and they’re two among that. I don’t think that will ever change.
‘But a lot of friends say to me that when Minnie is a young woman, she may come and find me to find out more about her dad.
‘But the problem is, I am an old man, so she’d better bloody hurry up… And she’ll never meet Sally.’
Ellidy, who has 375,000 followers on Instagram, first introduced contractor Brock to fans on her popular podcast Darling, Shine! in November.
She told listeners how she had fallen for a longtime friend but initially worried about how the public might react, admitting she felt a mixture of joy and guilt.
‘I’m just so happy right now, and I’m really enjoying the feelings and the emotions and falling in love with Brock and having this new love,’ she said.
‘I feel guilty saying that because, obviously, there were so many times where I just thought it would just be Chump and I forever.
Chris, pictured near his home in Eden, NSW, said he doesn’t know where Minnie lives
Chris said Chumpy would be uncomfortable about his daughter being all over social media
‘It would have been, but he passed away… I’m young, I’m never going to be alone forever. I didn’t make a rash decision. I sat on this for pretty much a whole year, and I’m really stoked with where I am with him right now. It’s f**king epic.’
Chris has never been comfortable with Ellidy putting her whole life and her daughter’s life on social media.
‘It was never Chumpy’s style. He would hate that,’ he said.
In response to Ellidy’s engagement news, Chris said: ‘I feel sorry for him [Brock] because it’s going to end badly’.
‘But I suppose this might create more space between us and her talking about Chumpy, because that will be a bit hard when you’re married to someone else.
‘So this might be a good thing.’
Ellidy was contacted for comment via her talent agent.
