Throughout her career, Nova Peris OAM has achieved many “firsts”.
The 53-year-old was the first Indigenous Australian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, and the first Indigenous woman elected to federal parliament.
While no longer a competing athlete, Peris hasn’t stopped putting her fitness prowess to good use.
In 2019, she joined the cast of Survivor and, five years later, Dancing With The Stars.
But what about her personal life? Here’s what we know about Nova Peris and her family.
Against the advice of her friends and family, a 17-year-old Nova moved to Queensland with footballer Sean Kneebone, whom she married in 1995. Five months into her first pregnancy, she returned to Darwin to live with her family. Eight days after turning 19, Peris welcomed her first daughter Jessica.
Describing her relationship with Sean as “up and down and all over the place” in her autobiography Nova, My Story, the athlete felt like a single mother during the early years of her daughter’s life. After 11 years on-and -off with Sean, who became her coach and manager, Peris filed for divorce in 2001.
“I realised I didn’t want my daughter growing up thinking, ‘Well, my mother put up with it; it must be normal or acceptable behaviour,” she told The Age in 2003.
A year prior, the hockey player met sprinter Daniel Bateman at the Sydney Olympics. Two years later, they were married just weeks before the birth of their daughter Destiny. They then welcomed a son a year later, named Jack – who is now an Essendon AFL player. Nova and Batman separated in 2010. Sadly, two years later, Batman died in a car accident.
Since August 2012, Nova has been happily married to her husband Scott Appleton.
“Through sickness, health, trials & tribulations he’s stood by me,” she wrote on social media in 2018. “Love him to the moon & back a million times.”
The Dancing With The Stars celeb is also a grandmother to 15-year-old Isaac, who is the son to her eldest daughter Jessica.
And it seems athleticism runs in the family! In 2021, Nova shared an impressive video of Isaac during a soccer match.
“My 11 year old grandson Isaac kicking a great left foot goal! Made it look easy!” the proud grandmother wrote.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
