At just 17 years old, former Olympian and new Sunrise host Matt Shirvington found his soulmate and now wife in Jessica Shirvington.
As Matt shot into stardom, the pair naturally had some bumps in the road. But like a cheesy (but still adorable) rom-com, the pair overcame these challenges and Matt couldn’t be more grateful.
Matt and Jessica met at 17-years-old.
(Image: Getty)In 2000, Matt competed at his first and only Olympics for the 100, sprint when he was just 22 years old and finished fifth in the finals which made him rank in the top-ten in the world.
But the stress of training left a major impact on Matt and Jess. While speaking on Kidspot’s podcast, The Juggling Act, Matt revealed he had suffered from mood swings.
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“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.”
Would you believe Matt is underneath that snow helmet.
(Image: Instagram)Matt confessed to our sister site, WHO in 2021: “Jess was there though my whole athletic career. She sacrificed a lot to support me…I have a lot of repayment still due there.”
It was in these hardships that Jess drew inspiration for her young adult fiction novels. She is best known for her book series Embrace, also called The Violet Eden Chapters.
In 2001, Matt and Jessica said I do at St Marys Church in North Sydney.
Now, both 44 years old have learnt how to accept one another and support each other which Matt attributes to being the key to their successful marriage.
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“We’re very accepting of each other, but we’ve also lived through a lot,” he said in the podcast.
Matt and Jess share two daughters and five-year-old Lincoln. But in trying for the third, Jess was diagnosed with endometriosis.
Despite trying IVF, the couple wanted to conceive their third child naturally and nine years later their wish came true!
“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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