Frances Abbott shows off her engagement ring from weightlifting fiance Sam Loch
FRANCES Abbott met her weightlifter fiance in October and just two weeks later, her man put a ring on it. And what a nice ring it turned out to be.
FRANCES Abbott has shown off her engagement ring on Instagram, less than a month after her new partner proposed in her kitchen.
The daughter of former Prime Minister Tony Abbott became engaged to former Olympic rower Sam Loch just two weeks after their first meeting.
Loch posted a photo of Abbott wearing her new ring on his Instagram story on Wednesday.
Abbott, 26, revealed that Loch proposed in her kitchen, holding a bottle of champagne while she was putting peas in the freezer.
“He said, ‘Why aren’t you asking me why I’m holding champagne?’ So I said, ‘OK ... why are you holding champagne?’ He said, ‘Well, I thought we could drink it after I asked you to marry me,’” Abbott told Stellar magazine.
The couple have since moved in together and plan to get married next year.
They met through a mutual friend who thought the pair would get along. Abbott made the first move and sent him a message. Their first date, in mid-October, was over a coffee.
“Everyone’s like, ‘Wow, this is really fast,’” Abbott said.
“But it feels so natural to me. His energy, it’s so grounding. When I am around him, I am like, ‘This is what it’s meant to be like.’ Life is short, and love is special, and sometimes you just need to follow your instincts.”
Loch, 34, is a former professional rower who has competed in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
He’s now a weightlifter, clocking around 120kg on the scales and is training for an upcoming weightlifting competition.
Abbott said Loch has met her father and the pair get along well.
“I think meeting Tones can be quite intimidating for anyone, but that’s what I love about Sam,” Abbott said.
“He’s so grounded and so settled in his own skin. It felt totally natural. There was no change in [Sam’s] voice, no sitting upright. Dad liked him. Dad likes everyone, but I think he was particularly — well, Dad is a rower. He was like, straight away, ‘Let’s talk about rowing.’”
But her mother expressed some concern about the speed of the engagement.
The announcement stunned Abbott’s followers — more than 10,000 people follow her Instagram account Not Another Fitness Blogger — after she described herself as “so single” in an interview in the current issue of Harper’s Bazaar Australia.
“I always describe myself as ‘so single’ because that’s how single I am. Like, very, very single. But I also think it’s probably the best time to compete, because I don’t have a guy saying, ‘Let’s go get some dinner!’” she told the magazine, explaining her ultra-healthy lifestyle.
The personal trainer and aspiring fitness model made headlines this year for publicly supporting same-sex marriage, going against her father’s own views.
But both Abbotts have learnt to respectfully disagree with each other.
The former PM has previously gone on the record saying he’s proud of the fact his daughter is an independent woman with her own views about the world.
“Sometimes I think having too much of an opinion can make you more narrow-minded. I don’t want to make my mind up about something until I have explored every option,” she told Stellar.
“I am creating my own ideas and forging my own path. I will continue to disagree with [my parents] on many things, I am sure, and that’s how they have raised me to be.”
rebecca.sullivan@news.com.au
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