Brynne Edelsten 'shocked' over Geoffrey Edelsten's death at 78

Brynne Edelsten is 'saddened and shocked' after her ex-husband Geoffrey Edelsten died in his St Kilda apartment on Friday afternoon.

The former couple married in 2009, when Brynne was 40 years his junior, however the nuptials didn't last, with Brynne calling it off after five years.

"On behalf of Ms Brynne Edelsten, we send our deepest and sincerest condolences," a spokesperson for Brynne told Yahoo Lifestyle Australia.

"Brynne and Geoffrey enjoyed some truly beautiful moments, including their wedding in 2009.

"While their marriage ended after five years together, Brynne remains grateful for the good times the couple shared and is deeply saddened and shocked to hear the news of his passing."

Geoffrey Edelsten made a name for himself as a flashy doctor, the man who saved AFL team the Sydney Swans from extinction, and for having a string of young wives.

He died on Friday at his home in Melbourne, it was reported.

Victoria Police confirmed a report would be prepared for the coroner following the discovery of a man's body in a St Kilda Road apartment on Friday afternoon. The death is not being treated as suspicious.

Edelsten was born in Melbourne on May 2, 1943 and spent most of his years surrounded by controversy.

After working as a resident at the Royal Melbourne Hospital he became a GP, and with a colleague established a practice in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

In the 1980s he set up a string of open-all-hours medical clinics that featured grand pianos and chandeliers in the waiting rooms. Patients, who were bulk-billed, flocked to the clinics.

He was deregistered in NSW in 1988 and later in Victoria.

He became, by his own description, a "white knight" of the Swans in 1985 as they faced dire financial pressure and concerns they couldn't survive.

Always a colourful fixture of Melbourne's social scene, his unconventional lifestyle demanded attention.

But it was his relationships with pretty young blondes that kept him in the spotlight.

He divorced first wife Leanne, a model, in 1988 after a three-year marriage, then married American fitness instructor Brynne Gordon in 2009 when she was 40 years his junior.

Less than a year after things ended between him and Brynne, he proposed to American model Gabi Grecko, 46 years his junior, at the Melbourne Cup.

The ever-romantic Edelsten got down on one knee dressed in his brashest yellow suit before the waiting media.

She'd already proposed to him months earlier, but he wanted to make it official.

Their love bubble burst not long after, with claims of infidelity on Edelsten's behalf, and a range of public spats.

By 2016 a bankrupt Edelsten was being chased by more than 40 creditors in Australia and the US, including the Australian Taxation Office, for millions of dollars.

In 2017 he sought an apprehended violence order against ex-wife Grecko, though she was then back in the US, and in 2019 he escaped penalty after being nabbed by police driving through Melbourne in an unregistered car.

With extra reporting by AAP

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