Christian Olympian, Adam Peaty, has spoken out after weeks of furore over his family relationships in the run-up to his wedding.
The gold-winning swimmer is set to marry Holly Ramsay, daughter of TV chef Gordon, in a Christian ceremony at Bath Abbey this December.
Reports of tensions had been circling since Peaty’s aunt posted on social media that his mother was not invited to her future daughter-in-law’s hen do, whilst Gordon Ramsey was invited to his son-in-law’s stag.
“Yes. Adam is a born-again Christian. He's not living by the tenets of Christianity is he? Where is 'honour thy mother and thy father,' where is the forgiveness?'” read his aunt Louise’s social media post.
Adam has now released his own post, stating: “Over the past few days, a lot has been reported and comments posted about the private life of Holly and myself. My sister Bethany has also been targeted. This has been almost entirely one-sided and, in many cases, excessive and intrusive.”
"I work so hard on trying to improve myself as a person who wants to contribute to making the world a better place,” he continued.
"I am continuing to learn about myself and how I can be the man I want to be; a worthy partner, father, businessman, friend and athlete; even through these challenging times.
"Bethany, Holly and I will get through this - we do not ask for sympathy. We just need people to be aware that there are always two sides to every story.
“To those of you who have reached out and shown kindness and understanding - thank you. It is deeply appreciated. Yours faithfully, Adam."
Peaty has described himself as “a religious man,” and is open about finding faith after years of struggling with mental health and fame.
Upon announcing their engagement, he shared that Holly joined his church community “without question” – which proved to him that she was meant to be his life partner.
Holly herself shared 1 Corinthians 13:13 on her Instagram account: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”