Olympic gold medallist Ryan Lochte is engaged to Molly Gillihan, just over one year after his wife Kayla Reid filed for divorce.
Ryan Lochte is engaged.
The 41-year-old six-time Olympic gold medal swimmer – whose podcaster ex Kayla Reid filed for divorce in March 2025 after seven years of marriage – proposed to Molly Gillihan recently after one year of dating.
Ryan told PEOPLE: “It’s true. [I am] moving on with my life to bigger and better things, especially marrying Molly.”
Ryan originally hoped to propose at Molly’s family farm, but changed it Prime and Pearl, the restaurant where they had their first date in Gainesville, Florida, after she found out.
He said: “I had rose petals from the entrance leading to our table. The table was also covered in roses, and the letter for Molly read, ‘Will you marry me?’
“She immediately started crying and said, ‘What took you so long?’ before saying yes.”
Ryan and Molly went Instagram official in July 2025 and moved in together in January 2026.
He shares son Caiden, eight, daughter Liv, six, and daughter Georgia, two, with Kayla Reid, while Molly also has three kids: two daughters, Layla and Maggie, and a son, Oliver, from a previous relationship.
And, Ryan is excited to officially blend their families together.
He said: “She’s my best friend, our kids have formed an incredible bond, and it became clear that being together under one roof was the right next step for all of us. We needed a bigger home to support our blended family, and we’re focused on creating a loving, stable environment for all of our children.”
Ryan has previously insisted that he and Molly – who met at their children’s school – only started dating after Kayla filed for divorce.
He told DailyMail.com: “There was no infidelity with Molly, like nothing. Molly didn’t do anything wrong. She didn’t pursue me, I pursued her.
“It was after I got served with the divorce papers. It was all after the fact.”
Meanwhile, Kayla has admitted that she and Ryan are “not in a good place” since their split.
She told PEOPLE earlier this year: “Obviously, we’re not in a good place. I really pray that he becomes the father our kids deserve. “I wish him well [but] we try to have minimal interaction.”
Kayla and Ryan are currently “parallel parenting” their children and she is looking forward to the day her divorce to Lochte goes through.
She said: “It could be a long road ahead still. I would love to be divorced. I look back, and I’m like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this year, I can’t believe what I made it through. I have said it a thousand times, but I don’t know where I’d be if I didn’t have my girlfriends and my family. They have carried me on their backs this past year.”
Ryan Lochte engaged one year after marriage split
