Shane Warne described his romance with Elizabeth Hurley as 'the happiest time of his life' and admitted he still missed his ex in an emotional interview before his death.
The legendary spin-bowler died at the age of 52 on Friday of a suspected heart attack during a lads' holiday to Thailand.
Speaking poignantly about his life in an interview before his death, Shane opened up about how much his time with the actress and model Liz Hurley meant to him.
The two were together for three years before splitting in 2013 when they called off their engagement.
Speaking to the Mirror, Shane said that despite the heartbreak, he looked back on the good times very fondly.
"I was more in love with Elizabeth than I realised I could be," he admitted.
"I miss the loved we had. My years with Elizabeth were the happiest of my life."
In the same interview, Shane also confessed to feeling jealous when he saw Liz hanging out with her ex Hugh Grant.
Liz and the Four Weddings and a Funeral actor remained close friends after their break-up in 2000.
Reflecting on his split with Liz, Shane said: "The long periods apart were too difficult. The more you're apart, the more you ask questions. I got jumpy about the time Elizabeth spent with Hugh Grant, for example.
"I still care for her. She showed me what a relationship should mean," he added.
Shane had a number of high-profile romances over the years, most notably his failed engagement to Hurley.
He was first married to childhood sweetheart Simone Callahan, with whom he had three children: Jackson, Summer and Brooke.
Shane and Simone split after ten years, with the sportsman admitting to cheating on his wife with several women.
Speaking in an Amazon Prime documentary, Shane said he 'cried on the floor' the day his family left Australia and fled to England to escape the scandal.
However, just before Simone and the kids landed another story broke in the UK about Shane's infidelity which they saw splashed across the front pages when they arrived.
The couple divorced and briefly reconciled before splitting for good in 2007.
In 2010 Shane was linked to Liz Hurley after meeting the model at the horse races.
The cricketer popped the question in 2011 but the pair sadly split two years later.
Shane admitted in docu-series A Week with Warnie, that he found the attention of their romance unbearable at times.
"We tried to keep things as normal as possible but it got scary,' Shane began.
"We couldn't go anywhere else because we'd just get 30-40 people, photographers, news crews, everywhere we went.
"We had seven cars following us and a helicopter over our head just following us, running red lights, cutting off in front of us,' he continued.
He later said their split was down to conflicting schedules, as Liz's career kept her busy while he was focusing on his own commitments.
Following news of Shane's shock death on Friday, Liz took to Instagram to pay tribute to her former fiance.
"I feel like the sun has gone behind a cloud forever. RIP my beloved Lionheart," she penned on Instagram.
The star also liked a photo of her together with Shane that was posted by her good friend Elton John.
