Radio kingpin Alan Jones was generous and supported a prominent athlete through difficult times, before allegedly sexually touching him without consent.
The pair had a close relationship for a period of time but it had its challenges, the sportsman told a Sydney courtroom on Tuesday.
"(Jones is) someone who had a presence in the media, someone who has a reputation around what they do, someone who has also been generous to me at times in my life," he said.
The athlete faced Jones from the witness box after describing the older man allegedly kissing him without consent at a sporting event, leaving him shocked and embarrassed.
"You looked great. I love you. I hope you can feel my kisses, darling," Jones messaged the sportsman afterwards, according to texts aired in court.
Years later, the longtime shock jock allegedly kissed the younger man on the side of his mouth and pressed his genitals against him at his Circular Quay apartment.
Jones has been charged with one count each of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent against the sportsman, both of which he denies.
Under cross-examination, the athlete accepted Jones was his vocal advocate and supported him through personal crises including financial difficulties.
After he complimented the veteran broadcaster's floral arrangement, Jones sent weekly flower deliveries to his home for years.
"I thought it was a lovely gesture," the athlete said.
For some time, they had a close relationship which was hard to define but encompassed both personal and professional, the sportsman said.
"He was someone you could go to in times of trouble in your life?" Jones's barrister Gabrielle Bashir SC asked.
"In certain areas, yes," the athlete responded.
He accepted that he demonstrated the closeness of their relationship by sending the former radio host "love and kisses" in texts.
When asked on Monday about the frequent declarations of love and flurries of kisses Jones sent him in texts, the sportsman said he believed the broadcaster was "in love with me".
But he said he didn't share the sentiment, telling the court: "I wasn't in love with him in that kind of way".
He said Jones's message about wanting the athlete to feel his kisses "all over" made him feel uncomfortable.
The sportsman told the court he responded to Jones with texts addressing him as "mate" to reinforce the platonic nature of their relationship and create distance.
"'Mate' was my way of pushing him back, I guess," he said.
He explained he felt apprehensive about offending or upsetting the former Wallabies coach because of the influence he wielded over others.
"I was always concerned about the reputation he had and how he could destroy people," the athlete said.
"He hurt brands, he hurt politicians."
On Tuesday, he told the court he went to police after reading articles in the Sydney Morning Herald that first aired indecent assault allegations against Jones in 2023.
The sportsman agreed he read descriptions of Jones pressing his body against people before he made a complaint to police or his friends.
Jones, 85, has pleaded not guilty to 22 charges of indecent assault and sexual touching without consent related to six men.
The charges date from 2003 to the end of Jones's long-running and successful radio career in 2020.
The months-long trial will pause on Wednesday and resume Thursday.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
