Newly released Supreme Court documents show former Carlton president Luke Sayers comparing the stair-fall rumours around Daniel Andrews to claims linked to an explicit image posted from his X account during a family trip to Italy.
Luke Sayers didn’t just reject the idea that his estranged wife. Cate Sayers. was behind the publication of an explicit image from his X account. In court documents released this week. he went further—drawing a line between that fallout and another set of political rumours that have long circled Victoria.
In a text message exchange dated January 2025, Sayers told Cate that nobody he knew believed she was responsible. “Cate that is not true. Nobody I know thinks you had anything to do with it. I was hacked. I’ve said it repeatedly,” he wrote.
The exchange later turned to a conspiracy rumour Sayers compared to his own scandal. In his message. he referred to claims he “pushed Dan Andrews down the stairs. ” calling it “all crap.” “It’s the bs I pushed Dan Andrews down the stairs … its all crap,” he wrote. The reference linked to rumours that followed Daniel Andrews’ serious fall at a Mornington Peninsula rental property in March 2021. despite the then Victorian premier’s explanation that he slipped on wet stairs while preparing to return home from a long weekend away.
Andrews suffered several broken ribs and vertebrae damage and was transferred to The Alfred trauma centre after initially being treated at Peninsula Private Hospital. Even after the official account, rumours spread suggesting the injuries were sustained elsewhere—at times including allegations that involved Sayers. The documents say no evidence has ever been produced to support those claims.
In Sayers’ defamation battle, the stair-fall comparison matters because it surfaces how he framed rumours about responsibility—at least in his own private messages—while Cate Sayers argues those messages clash with what he later said publicly.
The dispute in Victoria’s Supreme Court centres on Cate Sayers’ claim that public statements made by her husband left people believing she was responsible for the image appearing online. She complained in court that she was blamed because she was described as the person behind the posting.
In one message, Cate wrote: “Everyone now thinks I posted it ‘someone who has access to his account’,” describing how she believed she had been viewed by others.
Sayers replied: “No they don’t … I was very clear about pursuing this hack privately from this day forward.” The documents also show Sayers pleading as the scandal intensified. writing: “Please Cate … My heart is breaking that you are so angry. I have just given up work, Carlton, realised that I f***ed up 5 years ago and made the wrong call … want to right the wrongs. I love you.”.
Those texts are presented as a key issue because Cate Sayers alleges they are inconsistent with claims Luke Sayers made in a statutory declaration provided to the AFL Integrity Unit and Carlton Football Club.
Cate says her husband wrongly identified her as responsible for posting the image and damaged her reputation by doing so. She also alleges that Sayers made statements suggesting she suffered from mental illness and periodically refused medication.
Sayers denies defaming Cate and says he genuinely believed she was responsible for posting the image despite her denials.
The court material also reflects Sayers’ long-running position that he did not publish the image himself. He has maintained he was in the shower when the explicit post appeared. The post was deleted approximately 15 minutes later.
The legal fight has broadened beyond the headline dispute. The documents describe further arguments over AFL and Carlton documents, the conduct of investigations into the incident, and whether the matter should stay in the Supreme Court or be transferred to the Federal Circuit and Family Court.
Justice Andrew Watson has reserved his decision on the competing applications.
Separately, the AFL previously cleared Sayers of wrongdoing after its investigation into the publication of the image.
Luke Sayers Cate Sayers defamation battle Supreme Court Carlton AFL Integrity Unit Daniel Andrews stair-fall rumours X scandal