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Matt Shirvington's secret to a happy marriage with wife Jessica

From childhood sweethearts to parents of three, they've seen it all. - by Chanelle Mansour
  • 04 Aug 2021

Matt Shirvington is currently lighting up our screens as he leads Channel Seven’s afternoon coverage on the Olympic Tokyo 2020 Games as a commentator.

WATCH BELOW: Matt Shirvington's Highs And Lows From His Olympics Career

While his career continues to sky rocket, Matt’s greatest support throughout it all has been his childhood sweetheart Jessica.

“Jess was there through my whole athletic career. She sacrificed a lot to support me,” Matt recently told WHO. “I have a lot of repayment still due there.”

Matt and Jessica met when they were just 17, and now, two decades later, are happily married and share three children together - daughters Sienna, 15, and Winter, 13, and son Lincoln, 4.

matt shirvington wife jessica

Matt and Jessica have been married for 20 years, and share three kids together.

Getty

And after all these years of growing their family, Matt appeared on Kidspot’s podcast The Juggling Act to reveal that he and his wife have found the secret to a successful marriage.

“We’re very accepting of each other, but we’ve also lived through a lot," the 42-year-old said.

But it was Jessica’s support through Matt's sporting career that is what helped keep them together.

"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," he said.

matt shirvington

“Jess was there through my whole athletic career."

Getty

Matt is a five-time Australian 100m sprint champion, where he came fourth at the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, Jessica is a young adult fiction writer, and has previously said that she has drawn on her own life experiences when writing her novels.

Allowing one another to be themselves and supporting each other at the same time is something that Matt credits to being the key to their successful marriage.

"We had our times where we broke up and got back together. Now we just don’t blame each other," he admitted.

matt shirvington wife jessica

Like many couples, Matt and Jessica have had their ups and downs.

Getty

That same support carried through when the couple "tried and failed" when they went for their third child, where Jessica's endometriosis was "making her struggle to fall pregnant".

“Jess had a little bit of endometriosis so she had to deal with that and that’s what was stopping us initially to fall pregnant naturally," Matt said.

The couple had a round of IVF, but eventually Jessica was able to fall pregnant naturally with their son Lincoln.

“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.

For your own fairytale love story, sign up for eHarmony. 

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Chanelle Mansour
As a digital writer, Chanelle Mansour covers all things lifestyle, entertainment and food for New Idea.

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