Yahoo Lifestyle 
Emily Seebohm spills on romance with MAFS' Ryan Gallagher: 'It's love'
Olympian Emily Seebohm and Married At First Sight star Ryan Gallagher have revealed that they are now dating after competing against one another on Channel Ten’s new reality show The Challenge Australia.
Following weeks of speculation about their relationship status, the couple confirmed the rumours on Monday evening when they both shared loved-up snaps on Instagram. Ryan captioned his post with a simple heart-eye emoji, while Emily wrote: “Letting you in on a little secret.”
Chatting with Yahoo Lifestyle about their romance, the three-time Olympic gold medallist revealed how her close alliance with Ryan on the show transitioned into a real-life love story.
“Me and Ryan, obviously we were paired with each other first challenge, we won and we worked really well together,” she says.
“Inside the game, we were just the people that could trust each other. Ryan had my back one hundred and fifty per cent and I had his back one hundred and fifty per cent, and that's hard to find in a game where you’ve gotta lie, you’ve gotta deceive people and you've gotta backstab people. And we just knew that from each other we weren't going to do that.
“And that’s something that doesn't come easy in life either, having someone that you can trust one hundred and fifty per cent.”
RELATED:
MAFS' Ryan reveals truth about The Challenge feuds: 'Quite full-on'
The Challenge week three recap: The good, the bad and the ugly
The Challenge star spills on wild unaired moment: 'Punch-ons'
Emily went on to say that while she and Ryan only had a platonic relationship on the show - unlike their co-stars Megan Marx and Konrad Bien-Stephen who had a steamy rendezvous in the hot tub and Ciarran Stott and Audrey Kanongara who hooked up in the shower - their romance began after they were eliminated.
“After the show, we both met up in Argentina and we decided to go travelling together and yeah, we've kind of been inseparable since the show,” she continues.
“I’m super happy. I know I didn't win the show, but I definitely feel like I won… We’re saying it’s love.”
‘That was really hard’
Despite the positive outcome, Emily admits she often found it difficult competing on the show while the ‘Bachelor alliance’ rallied against her and tried to put her up for elimination each week.
“It’s hard because it definitely feels very personal when you're in a game where people don't want you in the game,” she says.
“That was really hard personally because everyone's like, ‘Don't take it personally, it’s a massive compliment’. And yeah, I understand that it is, but also understand that you're telling someone that you don't want them around. That can easily hurt people's feelings. And for me, it's more than a game too so you've got to remember that people's emotions are tied up in it.
SHOP
“I think for me, I got so caught up in it being so personal that I probably don't feel like I should let that go. I don't know, that’s just me personally.”
Moving forward, Emily is hopeful that she’ll get another chance to compete on The Challenge in the near future to redeem herself.
“If I could branch over and do the US version, that is like a dream come true for me,” she remarks.
"That's where I’d like to go, but who knows? If there’s another season of this it will be crazy, hectic and full of drama. I can only imagine from what I experienced on the season what next season would be like, and I hope they broadcast more of that because honestly, there was at least a fight every episode and you guys just didn't see that side of it. It’s crazy to see what actually aired.”
Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.
Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.
