Emily Seebohm and the Olympic swimmer’s love life and relationships

Emily Seebohm’s very public love life has taken an exciting new twist but the road to happiness hasn’t always been smooth for the Olympic swimmer.

Emily Seebohm’s love life has taken an exciting twist, with the swimming star and Ryan Gallagher becoming engaged.

The pair, who met a year ago on Channel 10’s The Challenge, announced in Woman’s Day in March 2023 that Gallaher popped the question on his farm outside Goulburn, NSW.

The news adds to the Olympian’s high-profile love life.

MITCH LARKIN

It started as a match made in swimming heaven but ended in a pool of mystery.

The Olympic swimmers started dating in 2016 in what seemed an ideal match given the upward trajectory of both their swimming careers.

The Brisbane pair, considered the poster couple of Australian swimming, had purchased the home a year ago.

Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm were all smiles at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games in April. Picture: Michael Willson

However by June 2018 things had soured, with Seebohm abruptly announcing their break-up on social media.

Larkin was soon seen taking some belongings from the couple’s joint home at Hendra, in Brisbane’s inner north.

Seebohm deleted all images of Larkin from her Instagram page and posted: “Due to current events that have occurred, Mitch Larkin and I have decided to end our relationship and go our separate ways.”

By July 2018 Seebohm posted several cryptic messages following the split.

“Something I’ve learned about people … if they do it once, they’ll do it again,” she wrote on Instagram.

Emily Seebohm leaves her partner Mitch Larkin.

She later added: “I’m over the drama you created. Now you can deal with what comes next”.

Larkin’s ex Meagan Ney weighed into the break-up by posting a similar photo with Larkin to the one shared by Seebohm, accompanied by the quote “What is coming is better than what is gone”.

Larkin, though, in October 2018 quashed talk there was a scandal behind the separation.

“I did not cheat,” he said. “I absolutely did not cheat (on her).

“Breaking up with her was one of the hardest things I could do, because I adored her.

“That was really tough, ending it, and then to be accused of everything else was a whole other kettle of fish.”

Larkin instead insisted the pair just grew apart.

Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm with their dogs Max and Maple. Picture: Annette Dew

“I just questioned, ‘are we seeing eye-to-eye?’,” he said.

“Things weren’t good … and I said this isn’t good, this isn’t what a relationship should be, it’s quite draining.”

In January 2020 Larkin again denied rumours his infidelity was behind the split.

“It was a constant niggle … I was just fatigued,” he said.

DAVID “LUTTSY” LUTTERAL

The pair confirmed their relationship in late 2019.

Lutteral had even spoken openly about Seebohm on Nova’s top-rating breakfast show and discussed planning a proposal around her involvement in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics before it was postponed.

In October 2020 Seebohm spoke about the challenges of her international travel.

“I’m hoping for good Wi-Fi over there so we can Facetime as much as we can … but it’s going to feel weird not seeing him every day,’’ she said.

However things had cooled by March 2021.

David ‘Luttsy’ Lutteral and swimmer Emily Seebohm. Picture: Mark Cranitch

The couple split after their differing lifestyles reportedly put their relationship under strain.

The relationship was believed to have strained with sources close to the couple saying they argued over their clashing lifestyles following a race day event in late January.

Lutteral had previously joked about the downside of dating an Olympic swimmer, who was eager to walk everywhere and went for daily runs and swims to keep fit.

“She swam out to the drop-off and left me for dead,” he quipped.

“Wasn’t there to protect me”.

MYSTERY MAN

In January 2022 Seebohm added to speculation around her love life by declaring she was “really happy” and “definitely enjoying” a bit of privacy with her new mystery partner.

The I’m A Celebrity contestant opened up on the show about her very public break up with fellow swimmer Mitch Larkin amid rumours of him cheating.

“It’s probably better talking about it now than it was then because there’s no other emotions that are tied to it. It’s honestly just my own experience and that’s all that I can talk on,” she said.

Following two very public relationships, one with Larkin and another with radio host David “Luttsey” Lutteral, Seebohm said she was excited to have her “own thing” with her new partner.

“I’m in a new relationship now, very happy. I think there are those moments that I’m happy to share, and there’s obviously a level of privacy that I’m trying to uphold as well,” she said.

RYAN GALLAGHER

In many ways it seemed the perfect match.

Both Seebohm and Gallagher has been burned by past love interests.

Gallagher famously appeared on Married At First Sight, where he was matched with Brisbane’s Davina Rankin in a failed TV marriage.

The pair met on Channel 10’s The Challenge and stirred immediate interest.

Responding to increasing speculation about their relationship, the pair in December 2022 shared simultaneous Instagram posts.

Emily Seebohm and Ryan Gallagher. Picture: Instagram.

Sharing a photo of her and Gallagher together on a balcony in Sydney, Seebohm wrote: “Letting you in on a little secret.”

Gallagher shared a separate post of the pair hugging.

It comes after Gallagher in November appeared on 2Day FM, on which he was grilled about a rumoured romance with the Olympian.

“Em is a beautiful, beautiful girl, and if there was a relationship there, I’d be very lucky,” he said on the radio show.

In March 2023 Gallagher popped the question on his farm.

“When you know, you know … I thought it was the right spot to do it – she loves the horses and she often swims in the dam,” he told Woman’s Day.

“I did get nervous though. The (ring) box was making a bit of a bulge in my pocket. So either she knew I was proposing or she just thought I was happy to see her.”