Anthony Koutoufides: Football Sex Symbol Turned Reality TV Star Could Become Melbourne's Next Mayor In Shock Move

Former AFL star Anthony Koutoufides is considering a run for Melbourne mayor when council elections are held in October.

The much-loved Carlton champion revealed a friend had asked him to run for office and is not ruling out making a surprise move into politics.

“I’m considering it,” he said. Age.

“I’m really looking forward to it because I’m looking forward to doing something if I can.”

‘I love this city, I love this country.’

Koutoufides did not indicate whether he would run for an established party or as an independent.

“I don’t want to say too much yet,” he said. “There is still a lot to do.”

If the football legend decides to stand for election, he will face Nicholas Reece, who was sworn in as Melbourne’s 105th Lord Mayor in early July.

Anthony Koutoufides (pictured with his wife Susie) is considering a run for Melbourne mayor.

Koutoufides (pictured in action for Carlton during a 2005 clash against the Sydney Swans) was one of the country’s biggest football stars in his prime.

‘Kouta’ was an AFL force in the 1990s and early 2000s, playing 278 games for Carlton and winning a championship with the club in 1995.

He was considered a sex symbol and appeared in the risqué Men For All Seasons calendar, which was hugely popular at the time.

Koutoufides became a reality star with roles such as ‘Kouta the Greek God’ in the Seven Network’s 2008 revival of Gladiators, and two appearances on Dancing With The Stars, where he was crowned champion in 2006.

Earlier this month it was announced that Koutoufides will star in the crime series Vendetta 19, playing a prison guard alongside controversial former football agent Ricky Nixon.

The new TV series will chart how the Crutchy Push gang came to blows with notorious rival gangster Squizzy Taylor at Melbourne’s Pentridge Gaol in 1908.

‘Kouta’ was crowned Dancing With The Stars champion in 2006 alongside Natalie Lowe (pictured)

WHO IS ANTHONY KOUTOUFIDES?

The man known as ‘Kouta’ was a powerful AFL star who played almost every position during his career.

Often regarded as the prototype of the modern footballer, Koutoufides played 278 games for Carlton, including their 1995 championship team.

Koutoufides did not end his football career without some controversy.

In 1997, the then AFL poster boy caused a stir when he secured an individual sponsorship from Adidas, which contradicted Nike’s sponsorship of Carlton.

In October 2002, Koutoufides married Susie Angeloski and they now have three children.

It was the same year that Carlton was embroiled in a salary cap fraud scandal that led to the club being fined $930,000 and losing all of its first-round draft picks for the next two seasons.

It was Koutoufides’ huge salary that sparked the investigation at the time. There has been no suggestion that he committed any wrongdoing in connection with the affair.

Koutoufides retired in 2007 and continued to appear in a variety of reality shows, including the role of ‘Kouta, the Greek God’ in the Seven Network’s revival of Gladiators in 2008.

He owned a Souvlaki Hut restaurant for a time and appeared in comedy commercials starring a gorilla.

Anthony Koutoufides: Football sex symbol turned reality TV star could become Melbourne’s next mayor in shock move

WHO IS ANTHONY KOUTOUFIDES?

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