OK! VINTAGE

ISSUE 1093 – 25 JULY 2017

The world’s best athletes should be in Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics but, due to Covid-19, it has been delayed until next year. One of those predicted to win big was Britain’s Max Whitlock. The gymnast won two bronze medals at London 2012, and then at Rio 2016 he took home one bronze and two golds, making him the first British gymnast to win Olympic gold. Supporting his every achievement is his wife Leah, who he met as a teenager at South Essex Gymnastics Club. While many of us spend years searching for our perfect partner, Max, now 27, struck lucky as Leah, 28, was his first ever girlfriend.

After a decade together, they tied the knot at Botleys Mansion in Chertsey in 2017, in a ceremony covered exclusively by OK!

“After being together nearly 10 years, you do wonder what will really change between you when you get married, but it definitely feels different,” Max told us. “I feel like we’re closer and more in love than ever before.”

While Max is used to pressure in his career, he admitted that his groom’s speech filled him with dread. “Forget the Olympics, that speech was the most nerve-racking thing I’ve ever done,” he stated.

Leah, who is a gymnastics coach, and Max ensured there was a nod to their shared passion on the big day. The cake featured “a miniature me and a miniature Leah, both in our wedding outfits sitting on a pommel horse,” Max explained. His new wife added, “We had to get the pommel horse in there somewhere!”

The young couple were already keen to get started on their own family, which even affected their choice of honeymoon destination. “We’re going to Zante for a fortnight,” Leah explained. “We wanted somewhere with that tropical feel and a private pool, but as we want to start a family soon, it had to be somewhere with no risk of the Zika virus.”

Their daughter, Willow, joined them less than two years later.