AusLeisure

A Brisbane gym operated by Christos Kyrgios, brother of tennis star Nick Kyrgios, and his fitness model girlfriend has closed abruptly, leaving hundreds of members in limbo.

The Oasis Health Club in the Westfield Garden City shopping centre at Mt Gravatt on Brisbane’s southside closed abruptly on Wednesday 30th August, with Brisbane newspaper the Courier Mail reporting that the closure sparked "anger from people who had paid upfront membership fees."

An announcement on the Club's Facebook page on 30th August stated "to all our valued members

"We are very sad to inform you that, due to financial hardship, the Oasis Health Club at Westfield will close at 5pm today.

"We are sincerely sorry for the short notice, but we were hoping to work out an alternative solution.

"The good news is that for our current members we are working with a potential gym operator in the surrounding area (likely to be within 2 kilometres from Westfield) to obtain 2 months of membership for you at no extra cost.

"That may not take place for another few weeks, but we will keep you informed as those discussions progress.

"We again apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused."

Christos Kyrgios opened the Club in October 2015 following an, unrelated, dispute with the then master franchisor for Gold's Gym in Australia in his home city of Canberra, in which he claimed to have lost $300,000.

He launched the Mount Gravatt health club with girlfriend Alicia Gowans, a former ballerina turned bodybuilder and international fitness model. Christos Kyrgios' brother Nick Kyrgios is reportedly the sole investor in the business and has a personal guarantee to pay out the lease.

With members expressing their anger on the Club's Facebook page, which states that the gym is 'permanently closed' released a further statement on 1st September.

This advised: "Dear valued members,

"We are deeply sorry that we have been forced to close Oasis Health Club at Mt Gravatt. We can understand you may be feeling angry and frustrated by our sudden closure.

"Many of you have called and messaged us with regard to refunds, and we’d like to clear up the confusion.

"We want to reiterate again that we stand by our statement, that all members will be refunded any fees they have paid for future weeks or months of membership.

"No member will therefore be left out of pocket for any unused, advance payments.

"For month to month members, our billing solutions provider, Debitsuccess, is currently holding funds collected from our members over the most recent fortnightly, direct debit cycle.

"Debitsuccess will refund the unused portion of these payments directly to impacted members. Please call them direct on 1800 148 848 to organise your refund and they will be happy to assist.

"For the small number of members who have paid more than a fortnight in advance, we will refund you the unused advanced payments.

"Please keep an eye on our Facebook post as we’re still working on securing two months of free membership as a thank you.

"Again, we sincerely apologise to our members.

"Our thanks to our amazing staff, who have shown loyalty and incredible enthusiasm to assist our clients achieve their health and fitness goals.

"We wish them, and you, all the best for healthy, fit, strong futures."

The Courier Mail report stated that a Club spokesperson advised that there were “no longer any staff available at the gym” and the company was in the process of liquidation.

Click here to view the Oasis Health Club Facebook page.

Images: Oasis Health Club team members in happier times (top) and Club co-owner Alicia Gowans (below).

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