Adam Peaty has revealed how Gordon Ramsay pulled him out of a ‘deep, dark hole’ after three years of ‘hell’ that saw the swimmer withdraw from racing.
The three-time Olympic champion opened up on his relationship with the father of his girlfriend Holly, who he met while competing on the BBC‘s Strictly Come Dancing in 2021.
Peaty admitted the 57-year-old had helped him in his recovery from alcoholism, depression and split from the mother of his son Eirianedd Munro, which culminated in ‘three years of hell’ for the swimmer.
He told The Sunday Times the celebrity chef has emerged as a mentor and role model, who he looks up to for his ‘relentless pursuit’ and how he has worked ‘his way up to the upper echelons of his industry’.
Peaty previously revealed that he ‘didn’t want to see a pool again’ after being ‘broken’ by the sport, turning to drinking and partying as an escape.
However he has now rediscovered his passion for swimming and earlier this week qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics after winning the British 100m men’s breaststroke title with his quickest time since 2021.
‘Gordon is a high performer. He worked his way up to the upper echelons of his industry and works in a place where there’s no bullshit.
‘I take a lot from that and from the professionalism he has every single day with a relentless pursuit.
‘So, when I see that, I’m like, “Yeah, why can’t I work like this? Why can’t I do this every single day? Why do I have to be so emotionally engaged with things?”
He added that watching Gordon operate in his job inspired him to change his own manner and approach to swimming.
Peaty, 29, has been rebuilding his life after reaching a low point in 2022 when he split up with Ms Munro and lost an eight-year unbeaten streak after returning to the pool from a broken foot injury.
He said: ‘I’d felt like a god on so many occasions. Now I felt like a complete failure who’d let everyone down.
‘When it all became too much I started drinking.
‘It was good to feel numb for a while but that’s just the starting point in that downward spiral. Life lost its colour, its fun and joy.’
Bad went to worst in February last year when during a training session at Loughborough, the father-of-one began tearing up in his goggles.
After years of unquestioned devotion to the sport, he had reached breaking point and for the first time ever cut his training session short before telling his coach: ‘I can’t do this any more.’
Peaty said: ‘I felt broken, desolate. I’d lost any sense of direction, purpose, let alone motivation. It was almost like I no longer knew myself. I couldn’t face one more day of it.’
‘Athletes’ bodies are pushed into places of daily attrition. Every meal, every move, every single day for years on end. On the up, it all works well. But when there’s no more “up” to have, the only way is down.’
He took a competitive break in March last year to focus on his mental health and sought help from psychiatrist Steve Peters, who has also worked with other athletes including Ronnie O’Sullivan, Sir Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton.
He has also found a new purpose by coaching children at his AP Race Clinics, while he has been clearing his head walking in national parks and running.
Peaty is in a flourishing relationship with Holly Ramsay, 24, who he met through her sister Tilly, who was also on Strictly at the same time as the swimmer in 2021.
In May 2023, they began dating – and went public with their relationship one month later. Adam and Holly announced their relationship to the world in June and unveiled matching tattoo tributes to one another that December.
The couple have been flaunting their romance for all to see, with Adam recently professing: ‘I love you so much’ on social media
The Olympic champion took to Instagram on his birthday late last year to share snaps of himself posing in the infinity pool at the Ramsays’ Cornish bolthole, where he had spent most of the festive season.
The tattoo lover also showed off his new ‘H’ inking on his chest – shortly before Miss Ramsay unveiled her A inking behind her heavily pierced ear.
Speaking about his relationship with Holly, Peaty said: ‘We gelled straight away. She gives me peace, calm, perspective, and that brings stability.
‘It’s important to know every day when chasing down goals in sport that there’s another side to life and that whatever happens in the pool, I’m winning in life, because I’m with the right person.’
At the time of his break-up with Miss Munro in August 2022, he announced on social media: ‘Eiri and George, I’m sorry for letting you down. My only interest is for the well-being of our family at this difficult time.’
Miss Munro also took to her own social media to announce the split, predicting she would face an ‘incredibly difficult’ future.
Peaty met Miss Munro on Tinder in 2019 while training in Loughborough, where she was a student – and their son George was born in September 2020.
The split marked another instance of the doomed ‘Strictly curse’ striking once again, after Peaty raised eyebrows with his chemistry with pro partner Katya Jones on the dance floor.
Peaty was the latest in a long line of celebrities whose relationships ended during or after the dance show.
The Olympic swimmer and former Strictly contestant took to Instagram to share the sad news with his followers, back in August 2022
Eirianedd also shared a statement to Instagram and described the last three years as ‘amazing’
But the swimmer’s brother James Peaty insisted the split was not due to his sibling’s appearance on the hit BBC dance show, insisting: ‘He was in it over a year ago. It has nothing to do with Strictly.’
Despite his new relationship, Peaty said he has been very much involved in raising his son.
He told Mail Sport last year: ‘It was very hard at the start. Like a lot of single parents, you struggle because of the guilt. You want to be together for the children or the child.
‘It’s a four-hour round trip, so it is quite difficult. It’s very hard to be a professional athlete and a present dad, but hopefully one day he understands.’
Peaty said he had managed to strike a ‘nice balance’ of seeing George every week or two and is ‘very amicable’ with Miss Munro.
Last September, he celebrated George’s third birthday and shared a series of sweet photos to Instagram.
Alongside being a present father with his son George, he has developed a Christian faith which has been very influential over his life.
As he told Mail Sport’s David Coverdale in June last year: ‘I go to church every Sunday. It’s been the last few months and it’s definitely helped.
‘It’s about being a better person. Not only being a better athlete and fulfilling my gift, but also being a better dad for George.
‘There are so many other reasons. It gets quite deep. But it’s great to be a part of.’
He explained how a conversation with a priest, the five-time Olympic chaplain Ashley Null, helped him put his identity as an athlete into perspective and understand the priorities of life.
‘He said to me, “An Olympic gold medal is the coldest thing you will ever wear”,’ recalls Peaty, who wore one at Rio 2016 and two at Tokyo 2020. ‘It feels so warm because you have achieved your goal, but at what cost?
‘Relationships end, your friends and family are on the back burner, even your own children have to be on the back burner.
‘As athletes, we expect a gold medal to fix all our problems because that’s the only thing we care about, in the sense of job outcome. But as soon as you realise it doesn’t fix anything, it can be the coldest thing because you have sacrificed so much. You have to make sure you address those issues.’
Earlier this week Peaty qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics with a time of 57.94 seconds.
In an interview after the race, he said his life was back on track thanks to his relationship with Ms Ramsay, quality time with his son, and inspiration drawn from his Christian faith.
‘I’ve learned to appreciate the moments of greatness for myself,’ he said. ‘For me, that was a great swim, executed well – but the most promising thing is that I’m finding peace in the water now, instead of anger and just fighting it, and trying to win like that.
‘I’m finding a new version of myself which I’m really liking, and I think that’s a version that can do really well at the Olympics. This is a real win for my team, my family and myself. We have come through the past three years of hell.
‘I didn’t want to see a pool again. The sport had broken me. I didn’t know what route to go down and so many things got in my way.
‘But now I am waking up each day and enjoying my job. Who knows what the ending is going to be but I am having fun along the way. It may not end up as a fairytale, but it might.’
