Loose Women's Dame Kelly Homes: 'I'm not engaged, and I'm not thinking about marriage'
Dame Kelly Holmes has shut down reports that she and her girlfriend, Louise Cullen, are engaged.
Dame Kelly Holmes has shut down engagement reports.
The Loose Women panellist insists that she and sports massage therapist Louise Cullen are happy just being girlfriends, following reports last summer that Kelly popped the question.
Kelly - who met Louise on an online fitness "community" created during the COVID-19 pandemic - told the Daily Mail newspaper's Eden Confidential column: "I'm not engaged, and I'm not thinking about marriage."
Referring to their supposed engagement, the Olympian - who came out as gay in June 2022 - continued: "My partner was quite shocked when she saw this announcement everywhere. She's not in the public eye and prefers her privacy.
"I know there's an interest in my life, but, for her, you have to understand you can't try and make her life what I have.
"It's intimidating, it's scary, and, while some people are forward with it, it can make people like her retreat.
"They are not after the limelight, and it actually makes them go backwards - they don't come out as much because of that."
Kelly - who won two gold medals in the 800m and 1500m at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games - knew she was gay when she was in the army aged 17 and kissed a female soldier.
The former Army physical training instructor's family and friends have known about her sexuality since 1997.
Kelly, 55, charted her experiences in the documentary, Kelly Holmes: Being Me, and explained that she has "found her voice" since opening up about her sexuality.
In September 2022, she told The Sun newspaper's TVBiz column: "It will be so different to anything I have done before in my career, but now I have found my authentic voice since the airing of my documentary, I will join in on many conversations that I felt I never could before."
After keeping tight-lipped on her romances, Kelly's love for Louise blossomed in 2021.
In August 2024, Kelly told the Sunday Mirror: "She loves me for me. I'm just happy. I'm happy with Lou. It makes it a lot easier being with somebody that I really get on with, and who just likes me for me.
"Lou's a different person; she's a nice person. She's somebody that doesn't want anything. She's not really interested in the work side of me, she doesn't really want to be in the limelight.
"And now she’s coming to England, so let’s see what happens. Who knows what is around the corner? I’m not going to put pressure on myself and her and say this is forever – but hopefully it is."
