After a whirlwind romance which has included a hasty relocation to England, retired Australian Olympic Gold Medallist Diver Matthew Mitcham has announced his engagement.
As most do these days, his announcement first came via social media with a post on his Instagram saying “He got down on both knees, I said yes, and now we’re engaged.”
His fiance is 30-year-old Luke Rutherford, had been living in Australia on a two-year holiday visa when he met Mitcham at the end of 2018.
The self-confessed recovering alcohol and drug addict, a similar story to Mitcham who battled a methamphetamine addiction following the 2008 Olympics, Rutherford’s visa ran out this year and so it was Mitcham that decided to follow his heart and move to England with Rutherford just four weeks ago.
Speaking after the proposal, Rutherford posted a picture of Matt and himself saying “He said yes I’m the luckiest man in the world.”
On his Instagram Stories Rutherford continued last night with thanks to everyone.
“Thank you for all the lovely messages and well wishes. I’m so happy Matt said yes and looking forward to planning a big celebration of love.”
Mitcham also posted thanks, “I wish I could say I’m humbled by the response we’ve received but the attention seeker in me is LIVING. Thank you for all the kind messages. I wish I could respond to each one individually but I’ve got my big fat gay wedding to plan. I’ll heart each message to let you know I’ve read and appreciated your kind words”
Mitcham is gay famous for being the first openly gay athlete to win an Olympic gold medal when he took out the 10m diving platform competition at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
It was during the Olympics that his then-boyfriend Lachlan Fletcher hit the spotlight for being poolside for all of his dives. Mitcham applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program to have Lachlan near him in Beijing which seemed to make all the difference.
In Olympic terms Mitcham is more famous for achieving the highest single-dive score in Olympic history, needing a very high score of 107.30 to win gold, he completed a near-perfect final dive which drew four perfect 10 scores from judges and achieved a score of 112.10.
Mitcham has appeared on many television programs and fronted his own one-man cabaret show over the years, but it is now his next performance in England with his new fiance that we will all be watching with interest.
Last Updated on Jun 5, 2019
The news team for Gay Nation love tips from our readers. Got tips or a news story that you would like published? Go here to tell us something.
Visit the Gay Nation store Now
