Aussie comedian and radio larrikin Dave “Hughesy” Hughes has revealed he nearly served up more than just sass at the Wimbledon Championships, almost landing himself in a centre court-style showdown with a particularly chatty Brit.
Taking to Instagram with a video of himself and teenage son Rafferty enjoying the match on Court 15, Hughesy shared the moment they almost made it onto the evening news for all the wrong reasons.
“Nearly got into a punch-on at Wimbledon,” he captioned the post, clearly relishing the drama like it was a fresh scone at high tea.
The pair had been watching Aussie battler Jordan Thompson grind out a gutsy five-set win when a local lad behind them apparently decided it was the perfect time to run his own live podcast commentary – loudly.
“It was a very small court,” Hughesy explained, “and this English bloke behind us just would not shut up through the match.”
Eventually, the usually mild-mannered funny man had enough and politely asked the man to pipe down. The response? Not so polite.
“Mate, can you just be quiet?” Hughesy said.
According to son Rafferty, the bloke immediately escalated to Defcon Insult, calling his dad “a little Hitler”.
“Bit of an overreaction,” Rafferty said, summing it up like the future diplomat he clearly is.
Hughesy admitted the jab was “hurtful”, although it seems the rest of the crowd didn’t exactly leap to defend Mr. Loudmouth. “Everyone around us was happy that I did it,” he said, adding for good measure: “What is it with entitled English wankers?!”
The tension eventually fizzled out like warm Pimms, with the loud Brit reportedly going quiet after a tense verbal rally. “Three rows of seating, metres from the players, and this guy would not shut up,” Hughesy added in the caption. “After a long back and forth, he zipped it and everyone was happy – except him.”
Support came flooding in from fans and celeb mates alike. Actress Regina Sorensen cheered, “Go you good thing”, while one commenter claimed they were in the row in front: “Love that you didn’t back down! Crowd totally had your back! He hardly said a word for the rest of the match!!”
Comedian Rove McManus, never one to miss a punchline, chimed in with: “Good to know your fans are everywhere.”
No word yet on whether Hughesy plans to return next year – but if he does, the All England Club might want to issue complimentary noise-cancelling headphones for all patrons. Or maybe just for that one guy.
Images: Instagram
