‘THIS IS EVERYTHING WE EVER WANTED
The rival sports reporters tied the knot in an emotional ceremony in Taranaki
As two of the nation’s top sports reporters, Kimberlee Downs and Ollie Ritchie know that sometimes when you start a story, you end up with a far different ending than the one you’d planned to tell.
Twists, turns, hooks and suspense are all part of it and as journalists, they know a little bit of drama in a yarn never goes amiss.
The loved-up couple have had their share of it too – in true sporting Romeo and Juliet fashion, they work as rivals for the nation’s two biggest telly networks, Kim for 1 News and Ollie for Newshub.
But the pair most definitely could have done without the near-torrential rain that’s currently bucketing down on the morning of their long-awaited wedding on the Taranaki coastline.
“It’s good luck for it to rain on your wedding day, right!?” a panicking Kim asks Woman’s Day shortly before walking down the aisle.
But what good journalists also know is that sometimes miracles actually do happen.
And at 1pm, somehow, the sheet of dark, miserable grey clouds has given way to an impossibly blue sky. And as the puddles dry up and the ceremony chairs are finally put out on the lawn of the stunning Bungalow Coastal Retreat, the Tasman Sea stretching as far as the eye can see and the sun streaming down, it’s time for the bride to slip into her custommade Liah Roebuck Bridal gown with the help of her bridesmaids, Hannah Mortensen and Grace Ritchie, plus maid of honour Rachael Whareaitu.
“I’m so excited that I’ve had one custom-made,” says Kim, gesturing down to her stunning V-neck, cap-sleeved gown. “When else do you ever get that in your life? I knew I didn’t want a princess kind of thing – that’s not me – but I love that it’s a mix of classic and modern.”
Thoughtfully, Taranaki designer Liah has surprised the bride by sewing a red thread into the label of her dress, in a nod to her Chinese heritage. “That’s going to mean so much to my mum,” says an emotional Kim.
Soon it’s time to make her way from her hometown, New
Plymouth, to the wedding venue, where a very nervous groom – flanked by groomsmen Tim McGoldrick and Bill Menzies, as well as best man Alex Ritchie – is stood waiting at the top of the aisle for his bride. The alwayspunctual Kim is running the traditional few minutes late and Ollie can’t help but keep glancing at the corner he knows Kim will emerge from.
“It was then that it dawned on me what a big moment it was,” Ollie tells us later. “Seeing everyone who had come for us and then realising that it was finally time to get married… yeah, there were a few nerves!”
But any anxiety falls away swiftly as groomsman Tim, the brother of Sky Sport presenter Laura, takes to the mic for a
‘It’s so right and it’s exactly what I want in my life’
rendition of George Ezra’s Hold My Girl, a special song for the soon-to-be-weds.
Kim’s two adorable nieces, flower girls Ayla and Gemma Tai, make their way down the aisle in front of the bridal party. And then a visibly emotional Kim, tears already prickling in her eyes, emerges on the arm of her proud-as-punch dad Chris.
“I knew I just needed to look at Ollie the entire time I walked down,” says Kim. “I think the only time I took my eyes off him was to make sure I got down the steps OK! But when I saw him, there was this huge sense of peace. I knew so clearly that this was the right thing to be doing. It’s so right and it’s exactly what I want in my life.”
For Ollie, seeing his bride
make her way towards him was a surreal moment – and the look on his face is like that of a kid on Christmas morning.
He recalls later, “I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, she’s so beautiful!’ She looked even better than I could imagine – and I think she’s the most beautiful woman every day. It was such an emotional moment.”
Matiu Workman, a close friend of the couple who became a celebrant especially for this wedding, then begins the ceremony by welcoming the 120 guests who have gathered.
“In what will be the first of a few sporting references, by making it here today, Kim and Ollie have seen off the opening bowlers and survived a few tough moments, and now they’ve reached the point where they’re eyeing up another important milestone in their beautiful partnership – husband and wife.”
After a reading from Kim’s brother Gareth, the pair then make their vows, which in true journalistic tradition, they wrote themselves. Up first, Kim praises Ollie’s humour, thoughtfulness and calm nature, and promises to always support, love, respect and cherish her husband – and to be his biggest fan.
“Like any good story, you had me hooked from the start,” she says. “People say falling in love is the easy part, but it turns out growing deeper in love with you every day has been just as effortless. I’m so thankful. You’ve changed everything about what I thought my life would be, and I can confidently say the only reason I’m stood here today is because you taught me what it means to truly be in love and to truly be loved back.
“So thank you for choosing me, my darling… But to be very clear, promising all this does not mean I’ll become a Crusaders fan and any suggestions otherwise amount to defamation!”
In turn, Ollie says he’s the luckiest man in the world to be marrying Kim, vowing, “Our paths have led us to each other and a lifetime of happiness, and I promise to never deviate from that path. I hope that – even with your atrocious sense of direction – you won’t either.
“I promise to love you, to protect you, to laugh with you and cry with you. I promise to stop using the kitchen sink to clean golf clubs. And above all, I promise I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you’re as happy as you can possibly be.”
And after filling out the paperwork, as the strains of
‘I just remember thinking, Wow, she’s so beautiful’
Six60’s Forever begin, Kimberlee Jayne Downs and Ollie Henry Barnett Ritchie are officially announced as husband and wife.
“That feeling was just pure joy,” nods Kim, staring down at her sparkling new wedding ring from The Diamond Shop. “I wondered if I’d feel relief that it was done, but it was just genuine, huge happiness.”
Adds Ollie, “It was the perfect moment. It couldn’t have been better.”
With the formalities out of the way and a huge feast from Kim’s favourite local café Elixir waiting, it’s now time to launch into the reception, which provides hilarious speeches, plus incredible home videos of an 11-year-old Ollie trying out his journalistic chops.
And then the new Mr and Mrs Ritchie (although Kim will be keeping her maiden name for professional purposes) open the dance floor to a well-rehearsed dance to the Friends theme tune I’ll Be There For You.
“It’s just been the most incredible day,” says Ollie afterwards. “It’s everything we could have wanted. You never have this many of your favourite people in a room together, so it’s so incredibly special.”
“Everything just clicked into place,” adds Kim. “From the weather through to the end of the night, it was perfect, although as a lot of athletes would say, there have been some learnings and it really does take a village.
“My SENZ radio co-host Stephen Donald came through with his Grins [RTDs], which went down a treat on a sunny afternoon, local company
Dobsons Marquee & Party Hire outdid themselves and Elixir Catering went the extra mile to get our dream cake of cheese just right, even getting the wheels of cheese brought in from Over the Moon in the Waikato.
“We don’t feel any different now we’re married. Although I do get a buzz out of seeing Ollie’s wedding ring and someone just called me Mrs Ritchie, which made me think, ‘Oh, yeah, we’re married.’ How good?! It just feels completely natural.”
It’s possibly the most radical thing Married At First Sight Australia has ever done – a partner swap under experts’ orders. When sworn enemies Melinda Willis and Harrison Boon start hitting it off, will it spell the end of her marriage to Layton Mills?
This week on MAFS, Layton is hopeful he and Melinda can move forward after all the arguments with Harrison and his wife Bronte Schofield that came out of the couples’ retreat. “I felt like we’d finally put the drama behind us,” he says.
Then the experts announce a partner swap is about to take place. Everyone will be paired up with someone else’s spouse and will have to live with them for three days. Layton, 35, is told that he will be paired up with Perth influencer Bronte, 28, while Melinda, 32, is matched with Harrison, 32.
Layton and Melinda both strongly object.
“Given Bronte and Harrison had had numerous clashes with Mel and myself, I was shocked,” explains Sydney biotech CEO Layton. “But I don’t think I would’ve felt comfortable with any of the husbands coming in to live in the apartment that Mel and I had made a home. I strongly felt like it was against my values and principles.”
Melinda eventually comes around to the idea, but Layton refuses to be swayed. He feels the partner swap will set him and Brisbane beauty boss Melinda back.
“It really made me question whether Mel and I were aligned on what was important in our relationship,” he adds.
When Sydney builder Harrison turns up to move in, things get tense between Melinda and Layton. Before long, Melinda and Harrison find common ground, and then it’s Layton who feels like he’s on the outer.
“I think I was just a bit disappointed that neither of them were supporting my decision,” Layton says. “And it was very strange to see two people who considered themselves enemies bonding over a tea together in our apartment.”
It all becomes too much for Layton, who confesses he was “emotionally exhausted” by that stage of the experiment after not seeing his family or friends in seven weeks.
“I felt like I didn’t have support or understanding from
Mel, and that’s what I really needed at that moment,” he explains. “That was really hard because I felt like Mel was giving more support to Harrison than she was to me. I guess it was a lot of pent-up emotion that came out in a very real and raw way.”
Can Melinda and Layton’s marriage survive the partner swap? Watch this space…
Just three months after publicly revealing their relationship, Married At First Sight Australia star Ryan Gallagher and Olympic gold medallist swimmer Emily Seebohm have announced they’re engaged!
“When you know, you know,” Ryan, 34, tells Woman’s Day from his farm outside Goulburn, New South Wales, three hours from Sydney, where he took Emily out to the dam and got down on one knee.
“I thought it was the right spot to do it – she loves the horses and she often swims in the dam,” he says.
“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!”
Emily, 30, says it was an immediate “big yes”, calling it a “really special, cute moment”.
She adds, “It definitely had a Ryan flair to it and it’s something I’ll cherish forever.”
Speaking of the sparkler, Ryan chose to go local, enlisting Goulburn’s Zantis Jewellers to make him a trilogy ring, with the two smaller diamonds symbolising Emily and himself, and the larger diamond in the middle symbolising their love.
“It’s a lot bigger than I initially thought,” Emily laughs. “But it’s perfect – I’m so happy.”
The pair say they’re planning an “intimate” wedding, most likely on the Gold Coast, “within the next year or two”, but they’re more excited about organising a “blowout” engagement party.
“You only get one of them, so why not?” Ryan enthuses. “Unless you’re [three-timesengaged Beauty And The Geek host] Sophie Monk and then you get nine!”
The pair met on Aussie reality show The Challenge last year and while Ryan knew he couldn’t get too close as Emily was in a relationship at the time, the pair’s connection was too strong to deny.
“We knew by the last week that we had feelings there,”
Emily admits, adding that she “had to make a decision” for herself, making the difficult choice to end it with her boyfriend when she got home.
“Obviously it wasn’t a nice call to make, but I told him what was going on, that there was something there with Ryan and that I didn’t see the point in wasting any more time.”
From there, the pair decided to travel overseas to see if what they had would outlast the confines of a reality show – and it sure did!
“Nothing could really knock us down,” says Ryan. “Even travelling the States together, driving from New York to LA in three weeks. We just laugh through everything.”
Both Ryan and Emily have had a tumultuous history in the dating game.
Ryan was cheated on by his MAFS wife Davina Rankin in 2018, while Emily also endured a public break-up with swimming champ Mitch Larkin that same year, with Emily claiming he had cheated. “We have a lot of experience with dating!” Emily laughs.
“We might even be experts in it,” Ryan quips, before adding he’s thrilled at the idea of raising some rugrats.
“We definitely want a big family,” he enthuses. “But we’ve got to find a house to make that a forever home first.”