After heading their separate ways almost a year ago, former power couple Michael and Kyly Clarke have done their best to stand their ground independently of each other.
And while the cricket champion, 39, is enjoying his high-profile romance with Sydney-based fashion designer Pip Edwards, Kyly’s short-lived romance with V8 Supercars driver James Courtney has fizzled – with several reports suggesting he has already signed up to celebrity dating app Raya.
But now a source close to the former WAG exclusively tells Woman’s Day there’s a good reason why Kyly, 39, has moved on from James, who she dated two decades ago before marrying Michael in 2012 – she’s hellbent on making sure she’s the best parent to her five-year-old daughter Kelsey Lee!
“Kyly is seriously determined on being her daughter’s favourite parent – so much so, if Kyly hears Michael has bought her a treat or a special gift, she has to one-up Michael and get an even bigger and better one,” says the source, who insists the House Rules star’s inner circle have noticed something of a “competition” between the parents.
“It’s become a tussle between them since they broke up. It doesn’t help that Michael and Pip are constantly spoiling Kelsey Lee.”
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“Pip is trying so hard to win her over,” dishes the source, noting, “Kyly isn’t happy with this woman in Michael’s life trying to be more popular with her child than her own mum!”
The couple, who share one daughter, split about a year ago.
(Instagram)Interestingly, the source insists Kyly’s growing “parent war” over Kelsey Lee is said to have caused tension between her and James.
“She really put the pressure on him to step up and be a potential stepdad to little Kelsey Lee. It was like Kyly was auditioning James,” reveals the source, who says James often had his hands full with his two children, Zara and Cadel, who he shares with his former wife Carys Courtney.
Kyly dotes on her daughter Kelsey Lee.
(Instagram)