Beaconsfield survivor makes shock confession he was drunk when he publicly revealed his dislike for fellow miner Todd Russell days after he died from cancer - as he makes heartwarming promise to his family

Detailed summary

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Webb revealed he was 'grieving' and 'drunk off half a bottle of rum' when he casually confirmed the two men loathed each other.

Published: 05:10 GMT, 14 November 2026 | Updated: 05:10 GMT, 14 November 2026

Beaconsfield mine disaster survivor Brant Webb has broken down with regret over telling the world of his dislike for fellow trapped miner Todd Russell just two days after he died from cancer, and admitted to being drunk at the time of his bombshell comments.

In 2006, Mr Russell and Mr Webb survived 14 days buried alive after a 2.2-magnitude earth tremor caused a rockfall inside the Tasmanian mine, trapping them 900m underground.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail on Friday night, Mr Webb revealed he was 'grieving' and 'drunk off half a bottle of rum' when he appeared on the McKnight Tonight podcast and said he and Mr Russell did not get along.

Journalist Robert McKnight asked Mr Webb, 'Did you like him?' to which the former miner replied: 'No, not really... We didn't have anything in common at all. The only thing we had in common was we stayed in the hole for two weeks together.'

Following the interview, Mr Webb sent a message to the show claiming he was relieved after revealing his true feelings towards Mr Russell.

'I feel a weight has lifted, a 20 years of keeping a secret for a bloke that didn't respect me,' he wrote.

Given Mr Russell had just died aged 54 after suffering from leukaemia, the backlash against Mr Webb was swift.

A contrite Mr Webb told the Mail: 'It was a bit of a f***ing c**k up. I am grieving… the fallout was pretty heavy, to tell you the truth.'

Opening of the article, excerpted from Daily Mail. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.