Model Behind Kysaiah Pickett’s Longtime Partner Split Revealed

The young woman whose TikTok messages to Kysaiah Pickett’s partner triggered the breakdown of one of the AFL’s most talked-about relationships has now been identified.

The fallout erupted on TikTok last weekend after Pickett’s former partner, Ardu Cubillo, publicly posted a series of explosive direct messages she said had been sent to her by another woman.

Those messages prompted Cubillo to end her relationship with the Melbourne Demons forward and leave interstate with their child, leaving her convinced the long-term romance had been founded on deception.

While Cubillo shared the messages with her followers, the woman behind them was not named at the time.

Cubillo did not publicly identify the younger woman she claims had been in contact with Pickett over the past five years.

But Our News Outlet can exclusively reveal she is Shayleah Wanganeen, a 23-year-old fashion model and aspiring lawyer who dated Pickett when they were teenagers.

In the TikTok messages posted by Cubillo, Wanganeen allegedly detailed aspects of her relationship with Pickett, 25, including a claim that the star goalkicker sent both women flowers on Valentine’s Day.

That claim followed Wanganeen’s stay on Hamilton Island at the same time Pickett was in the Whitsundays, after he allegedly told Cubillo he was heading away on a “boys’ trip”.

The Mail spoke with Wanganeen’s manager at Icon Model Management, Jason Parlett, who said on her behalf, ‘There’s no story here.’

All three figures in the break-up – Pickett, Cubillo and Wanganeen – come from prominent Indigenous families renowned in sport, business and the arts.

The relationship between Cubillo and Pickett, who share a two-year-old daughter, began to unravel after the Hamilton Island trip.

Cubillo had spoken of how ‘proud’ she was of Pickett at the 2025 Brownlow Medal – but by early this year, the youth project officer and mother of one began to suspect something was amiss in her relationship.

Things unravelled in dramatic fashion in March when Wanganeen contacted Cubillo via TikTok, saying of Pickett: ‘He’s constantly told me he’s in love with me and wants to get back together once he sorts out his relationship.

‘[It] made me feel so wrong and guilty… I wanted to tell you… I don’t have any excuse, I saw him in Hamilton and he told me you weren’t together.’ 

Wanganeen then told Cubillo, ‘We’ve both been fed lies for years and I’m over it,’ prompting Cubillo to reply: ‘Come clean to me. Everything. Just tell me everything.’ 

Our News Outlet understands Wanganeen dated Pickett in 2021 while she was still in high school, and that they ‘grew up together’ with many mutual friends and family. 

Before deactivating her Instagram on Wednesday, Wanganeen counted multiple members of the Pickett family among her followers.

She is related to AFL legend Gavin Wanganeen.

Pickett also hails from a football dynasty that includes AFL great Byron Pickett, Marlion Pickett and current Demons player Latrelle Pickett. He is also the son of comedian Kevin Kropinyeri.

Kysaiah Pickett won Melbourne’s Best Young Player trophy in 2021 – the same year he began dating Wanganeen – and claimed a premiership medal as the Demons won the grand final.

Last year, he was Melbourne’s leading goalkicker and the Ron Barassi Trophy third nominee for best and fairest player.

This year, he’s collected a string of accolades, including the Neale Daniher Trophy, the Frank Hughes Medal for ANZAC Day Eve best-on-ground, and nominations for both Mark of the Year and the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.

When Cubillo posted Wanganeen’s TikTok messages, she also shared a photo of Valentine’s Day flowers, claiming both she and Wanganeen had received bouquets from him. ‘Her and I both. His working overtime fr [for real],’ she wrote.

Wanganeen said: ‘I told him countless times not to contact me. He’s even had to be locked on TikTok because of it. Last week I told him he’s been lying the whole time.’

Friends say Cubillo was devastated to learn that the woman Pickett had dismissed as ‘just a close friend’ allegedly meant much more to him.

According to those close to Cubillo, she confronted the footy star while they were out shopping, revealing she knew about the other woman. Pickett allegedly replied, ‘She’s a liar.’

Friends say Cubillo didn’t hesitate. She ‘ran to the car with her daughter, jumped in, went home, packed their bags, jumped on a plane and flew to Darwin’.

Wanganeen splits her time between Sydney and Canberra, where she has worked as a paralegal and is believed to be studying law at the University of Canberra.

On her now-deleted Instagram page, Shayleah posted images at the beach – captioned ‘me at the beach… again’ – and shared her love of swimming.

She has also posted from Bondi cafes and Wattamolla Beach in the Royal National Park south of Sydney, writing ‘how lucky I am’ and ‘the world is truly my oyster’.

Beyond bikini shoots, Wanganeen has modelled at the Indigenous Couture show at the National Indigenous Art Fair in Sydney, held at Barangaroo in July.

Cubillo and her daughter are now reportedly ‘rebuilding their lives from complete scratch’ in Darwin, surrounded by relatives from her distinguished Filipino-Indigenous Northern Territory family, who are prominent in business, the arts and community life.

Pickett has travelled to Darwin several times to see his daughter, after his father helped establish a co-parenting arrangement.

Determined to reclaim ‘her truth’, Cubillo, according to those close to her, shared messages exchanged with Wanganeen and described the ordeal as ‘the most inhumane experience of my life’.

Among her posts was a photo holding a cake with the message: ‘You can’t have ur cake and eat it too’.

The messages and social media posts suggested Cubillo believed Pickett’s alleged involvement with the model lasted much, if not all, of their relationship.

In one anguished post she wrote: ‘5 years of my life completely stolen from me’. However, the Mail understands that claim would be disputed by Wanganeen.