Matt Shirvington is set to light up screens around the nation as he replaces long-running Sunrise host David Koch.
The news came as no surprise after Matt began filling in for Kochie 18 months ago as co-host on Sunrise every Friday, proving that he had what it took to take the top spot.
But whilst his career continues to skyrocket, Matt’s greatest support throughout it all has been his childhood sweetheart Jessica.
WATCH BELOW: Matt Shirvington’s Highs And Lows From His Olympics Career
“Jess was there through my whole athletic career. She sacrificed a lot to support me,” Matt told our sister publicationWHO in 2021.
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“I have a lot of repayment still due there.”
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Matt and Jessica met when they were just 17, and now, two decades later, are happily married and share three children together – daughters Sienna, 17, and Winter, 15, and son Lincoln, 6.
According to Matt, his kids had been “so supportive” when they heard the news of dads promotion.
“They’re really good kids they’re really supportive of both mum and dad and what we choose to do in life.”
After all these years of growing their family, Mattappeared on Kidspot’s podcast The Juggling Act to reveal that he and his wife have found the secret to a successful marriage.
“We’re very accepting of each other, but we’ve also lived through a lot,” the 42-year-old said.
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But it was Jessica’s support through Matt’s sporting career that is what helped keep them together.
“She went through an Olympic period in my life where I was competing and preparing for the Olympic games and my mood swings were massive because I lived and died by my performance. She worked through all of that,” he said.
Matt is afive-time Australian 100m sprint champion, where he came fourth at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.
Meanwhile, Jessica is a young adult fiction writer, andhas previously said that she has drawn on her own life experiences when writing her novels.
Allowing one another to be themselves and supporting each other at the same time is something that Matt credits to being the key to their successful marriage.
“We had our times where we broke up and got back together. Now we just don’t blame each other,” he admitted.
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That same support carried through when the couple“tried and failed” when they went for their third child, where Jessica’s endometriosis was “making her struggle to fall pregnant”.
“Jess had a little bit of endometriosis so she had to deal with that and that’s what was stopping us initially to fall pregnant naturally,” Matt said.
The couplehad a round of IVF, but eventually Jessica was able to fall pregnant naturally with their son Lincoln.
“We tried and failed to have a third and let it go on the back-burner. Then 9 years after, Lincoln came along,” Matt said.
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Chanelle MansourShopping & Streaming Editor
Chanelle is the Shopping & Streaming Editor across a broad portfolio of digital brands, including ELLE, Marie Claire, WHO, Now To Love and more. With a background in entertainment and lifestyle, she loves any excuse to talk about her latest celebrity crush, what’s trending on #BookTok and the latest watercooler show she’s obsessing over.
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